A Red Rose in the Darkness
by Viidoll
Summary: Kurama x Hiei slash, amongst others - Kurama and Hiei must overcome many trials in order to find happiness with each other. This is an ancient, completely OOC, and terrible fic written when the author was thirteen.
1. A Walk in the Park

WARNING:Shounen Ai!! Boy x Boy! If you don't like it, hit the magical "Back" button and   
be on your way!  
  
Hieica: YEAH! I got up the courage to write one! I just hope no one will say "Oh great,   
another yaoi freak!" (and that my mom won't see this).  
  
Swissy: I am a cheese! Um... anyway... HEY! The WARNING took my job!  
  
Disclaimer:*sarcastically* Yeah, my name is Yoshihiro Togashi, and I own Yu Yu Hakusho!  
Um....no. But what I do own is this STORY! You'll never get it!!! BWAHAHAHAHA!  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
~A Red Rose in the Darkness~  
Chapter One  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
A lone, black-clad figure sat on one of the topmost branches. The tree that he was sitting  
in was smack-dab in a lively park full of happy families playing with their children or having  
picnics with friends or kissing on a park bench. Below the lemon tree was a particular group  
that we hopefully all know of. The delinquent, Yusuke, was being chased around the park by his  
girlfriend Keiko, for he had pulled her skirt up in front of everyone in the park, and was now  
trying to escape her deadly wrath, failing miserably. He lay faceforward on the ground, a large  
bump forming in the middle of his head.  
  
Keiko crossed her arms, an angry look on her face. "You really don't know when to quit, do you, Yusuke?!"  
  
Muffled, he said. "Not really Keiko!!"  
  
She stepped on his back, showing him that he was defeated. "Obviously not!"  
  
Sitting on his legs on the sheet spread out across the partly wet grass under the lemon tree, a  
certain redheaded fox-boy giggled. Yukina and the little old lady Genkai were setting up the lunch  
that they had prepared particularly for this day. This was their day off, and they all wanted to  
spend their time doing something calm and relaxing on this rare occasion. Even Koenma himself would  
be joining them shortly.  
  
A loud voice boomed obnoxiously, and the orange-haired elvis impersonator came running  
to the group. "YUKINA-SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
Yukina looked up from what she was doing. "Oh, it's Kazuma!"  
  
Kuwabara ran up to her, grasping her tiny hands. "Oh Yukina! You make my blood boil with-!"  
  
"Great," a small voice said from high up in the trees. "You just came and I'm already annoyed  
by you."  
  
Kuwabara fumed. "Come and say that to my face, shrimp!"  
  
Kurama ignored Kuwabara. "Hiei, will you be joining us down here on the ground?"  
  
"Not likely," was the plain and simple answer.  
  
Kurama smiled. "I know you'll come down when we have the sweets. And before that, too.  
We've got cherries."  
  
In an instant Hiei was no longer in the tree, but seated next to his companion, impatiently  
waiting for the Lord and the ferrygirl to make their way over from the Spirit World.  
  
"Yeah, that's better! Now you can face me like a man-not that you are one!!" Kuwabara  
shouted.  
  
"I don't have time for the likes of you. You're being childish, and a fool. You'd be dead in the  
next second if I did choose to fight you," Hiei answered, arms crossed, eyes closed to try and  
get the headache that the oaf's annoying voice just gave him out of his head. "But you're  
hardly worth that second."  
  
"WHY I OUGHTA-!!!!!!!" Kuwabara stopped abruptly as something dropped on his head. It wasn't  
heavy enough to make him fall over, so he lifted it off his head.  
  
Koenma flashed a peace sign. "Hey!"  
  
"Look, the toddler showed up after all!" Yusuke shouted from his position, currently sitting  
cross-legged with tissues sticking out of his nose, about twelve large bumps on his head, and  
many other things, as well as a handprint on his face. Keiko had done him in, all right.  
  
"Don't call me a toddler!!!"  
  
"Or what? You'll throw you're binky at me?"  
  
"Urameshi...!"  
  
"Yusuke, today's a day to relax, so quit buggin' Lord Koenma, 'kay?" Botan said, appearing   
next to Genkai.  
  
"Aw, but Botan, It's fun!"  
  
"Fun? FUN? I'll tell you what's fun! Getting my trusty metal baseball bat and bashing it   
over your head and then--!"  
  
"Can you all shut up and eat?" Hiei said, very annoyed. He had already eaten most of the cherries.  
  
"Please," Kurama added. "It would be pleasant if we could just eat right now, fight tomorrow,   
when we can let our rage out?"  
  
"Tch...fine," Yusuke said and sat down next to Keiko and Kuwabara, who was seated next to Yukina,  
who sat next to Genkai. o.0  
  
And so, they all ate in the peaceful, beautiful park. Kurama loved it there, with all the   
nature around him. The sun shone beautifully, making everything seem to reach out towards  
its light, embracing its warmth. Yet, it made everything in it's shadow seem mysterious, mystifying.  
Not malevolent, just... mischevious. Animals of all sorts ran around the park's forests-deer, rabbits,  
birds, squirrels, chipmunks- almost anything that could live in peace in this horrifically wonderful place.  
  
The red-head stood up, excusing himself from the group. He walked to the edge of the forest to  
grasp it's secrets. A calm breeze met his warm face as he smiled and closed his eyes, enjoying  
every moment of this. He felt a presence next to him, and, without turning or opening his emerald  
gems, he spoke.  
  
"You coming, Hiei?" He said to the smaller demon.  
  
"...Yes."  
  
"You don't have to if you don't want to."  
  
There was no answer from the fire child, and Kurama's smile grew. He opened his eyes and looked  
at Hiei, who stood next to him, staring up at him with those bloodstained orbs of his. Hiei was   
wearing his normal outfit, the long dark cloak and the surprisingly white scarf and bandana. And,  
under the cloak was the tanktop, and the many belts, along with the black pants. On Hiei's right   
arm, there was the bandage, concealing the horrible, terrifying Kokuryuuha.  
  
"What are you staring at?" Hiei said, disrupting Kurama's gaze.  
  
"What? Oh, nothing."  
  
Together, the two walked deep into the forest, not speaking, not looking at each other, just   
enjoying the other's company. Birds sang harmonous, peaceful tunes, ones of long lost love, and  
the happiness that dawned upon two that were made for each other. Hiei, hands in pockets, fell   
into step with the taller fox, thinking his own thoughts and being quiet, not that that was anything new.   
Kurama still had the faint traces of a smile on his face, his eyes practically shouting out to the  
world "I AM HAPPY!".  
  
"Kurama?" Hiei asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the peace.  
  
"Yes?" the fox said distinctly, as if in his own little world.  
  
"Is...it alright if I spend the night?"  
  
Kurama snapped from his thoughts and looked at his demon companion in surprise.  
  
"Only because there's supposed to be a storm tonight."  
  
"Sure!" Kurama said in glee. Usually, Hiei only stopped in at night for a couple hours, through the  
open window. Even though he did that every night, it made Kurama sad to see him go.  
  
"Um..." Hiei wasn't sure how to say this. His face got all scrooged up, that made him  
look like a child. "Thanks."  
  
"Of course," Kurama said happily. This day couldn't get any better!  
  
__________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Hieica: So, what did you think? Review please!  
  
Swissy: Why is everyone stealing my lines today!? 


	2. Yay! Bath time!

WARNING: YAOI!! Yes, I said YAOI!! As in boy x boy!!! As in Hiei x Kurama!!! But  
you'd know that since you're reading the second chapter right now... Hiei acts very  
out-of-character in parts of this chapter.  
  
Hieica: I have FIXED it!! Bow to my power!!  
  
Disclaimer: Um...........no. I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or anything related to it  
except this story and the insane SHAMPOONESS within.  
*  
*  
*   
*   
*  
~A Red Rose in the Darkness~  
Chapter Two  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
Kurama sat at his dimly lit desk, working on studying for a BIG test the next  
day. It was a calm Sunday night, weather just before a storm. The red-headed fox  
rubbed his eyes. Math. So many numbers... Even though Kurama got straight A's, he  
always threw in more study time for Math because he wasn't as great in it then his  
other classes. His mom knocked on the door.  
  
"Shuiichi? It's time for dinner. Is your friend coming over tonight?" Shiori spoke  
through the door.  
  
"Yes," Kurama said. "He should be here shortly."  
  
As if on cue, Hiei slid in through the window, quietly landing on the bed. He made  
Kurama re-arrange his room so Hiei didn't have to worry about landing on his butt.  
  
"Alright. He better get here, or we'll eat without him."  
  
"Yes, 'Kaasan."  
  
Kurama turned towards Hiei, pointing back out the window. "Front door this time."  
  
Hiei nodded and exited the room. Seconds later, the doorbell rang.  
  
"That's probably him now, 'Kaasan!" Kurama shouted with a smile.  
  
He ran down the stairs and saw Hiei about to follow Shiori-with his muddy shoes ON.  
  
"Hiei!!" Kurama shouted. "SHOES OFF!!!"  
  
Hiei then did something very un-Hiei-like. He stood straight and saluted Kurama.  
"Sir, yes, Sir!"  
  
Then he sat down and ripped off the black boots(well, not literally)and set them  
next to Kurama and Shiori's own pairs. He slipped on an old pair of Kurama's   
slippers that had bunnies on them. The fire demon stood up and sniffed.  
  
"Hm. Lasagna tonight, huh?" He smirked.  
  
Kurama stared at him in disbelief. First, asking to stay over, now saluting me   
and SMILING?? Well, not smiling, but close enough!  
  
Hiei walked into the kitchen, Kurama following after him. He took his seat across  
from Kurama with Shiori at the head. He started shoveling the lasagna into his mouth  
before you could say "Jaou Ensatsu Kokuryuuha".  
  
Shiori smiled. Kurama laughed. That was typical Hiei. Lasagna was some of Hiei's  
favorite foods aside from ice cream, sweets, and garlic bread.  
  
After dinner, or for Hiei, the two minutes of stuffing your face, Kurama had Hiei  
help him study for the Math test. Hiei always helped, even though he didn't understand  
it himself. At all. Tonight was no different. The Forbidden Child sat on the window  
sill, his slippered feet sinking into the bed, while Kurama lay on his stomach near  
Hiei's feet. Hiei had the Math book on his lap, and he read the questions out loud,  
only odd ones though, because there were answers in the back for them. Kurama   
answered most of them without difficulty, using a calculator, of course. Rain ricocheted  
off the window behind Hiei, making a loud, steady pat-pat sound.  
  
"Um...Kurama? What's this word?" Hiei asked, covering the problem, but not the word.  
  
"Let me see... that's ratio, Hiei."  
  
"Oh......what's a ratio?"  
  
"The problems that you've been reading to me for the past fifteen minutes."  
  
"Oh. I knew that."  
  
"Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think I know Math well now."  
  
"Did you already study for everything else?" Hiei asked, sounding like Shiori.  
  
"Of course, Mother."  
  
"Hey! I didn't give birth to you. You didn't pop out of me," Hiei said as a retort.  
  
Kurama smiled and glanced at his watch. He stood up and went to his closet, pulling  
out a pair of pajamas for himself and for Hiei. Hiei looked at them in disgust.  
  
"I have to wear those?"  
  
"Yup. Assuming that you don't have any pajamas, I'm lending you mine."  
  
"..." Hiei still had that look on his face and hesitatantly took them. He stared at  
the little designs on the pants and dismissed them. They had poorly drawn trains on them  
that said "Choo-choo!". Lightning struck and thunder bellowed. Hiei looked over his  
shoulder, out the window.  
  
"I would hate to be out there right now."  
  
"Of course. All the rain, right?"  
  
Hiei nodded. "I like heat storms."  
  
"I know."  
  
They sat in silence for a while, Hiei's eyes fixated on the rain drizzling down the  
glass window, Kurama's eyes fixated on him. Kurama suddenly grinned evilly, and tackled  
Hiei from the window sill.  
  
"What the-!?"  
  
"Never let your guard down Hiei!" Kurama cried gleefully. "Or you'll have to wear  
train pajamas!!"  
  
Hiei was pinned on the bed, the fox holding his hands up above his head. Kurama was sitting  
on poor Hiei, so Hiei couldn't kick him off. Surprisingly, the little fire demon smirked.  
  
"If that's how you want to play it, little fox."  
  
"What do you mean, little? I'm tal-!!"  
  
Hiei shoved Kurama off of himself with a burst of inhuman(duh) strength. Kurama fell with a  
thump onto the floor beside the bed. Hiei acted quickly. He slid off the comfy bed and sat   
on Kurama's stomach, their places switched.  
  
The small, but horrifically strong fire demon smirked. "I win."  
  
Kurama laughed. "I guess you did."  
  
"Will you throw in the towel?"  
  
"Okay." Kurama got an evil smile. "But you're the towel!"  
  
He wrenched free from Hiei's grip and swiftly picked him up, Hiei's slippers falling off his  
feet as he was flung into the air. Kurama let go. Hiei went flying into the soft comforters  
of the bed. The fire demon was all tangled in the covers and was desperately trying to get out to  
pay the fox back. Kurama laughed heartilly and sat down on the bed next to the white blob   
once known as Hiei.  
  
Shiori opened the door. "Stop horsing around!"  
  
Then she laughed at poor little Hiei. Kurama giggled along with her. Hiei, under the   
covers, crossed his arms and pouted, which only made the two laugh harder. Kurama and  
his human mother helped Hiei get out of the covers. Shiori sent him on his way "home"  
shortly afterwards.  
  
Seconds later, there was a light tapping on the fox's window, that grew steadily and higher.  
  
It was then Kurama remembered it was raining. He quickly opened the window and pulled in  
the sopping wet mess of Hiei.  
  
"I'm sorry, Hiei!! I FORGOT and-!"  
  
Hiei turned his nose up, rain dripping from the edge of it. He was covered in mud-apparently,  
when he was climbing the tree, Hiei had slipped and fell. Kurama tugged Hiei along to the  
bathroom.  
  
"'Kaasan! I'm taking a shower!"  
  
"Okay!"  
  
Hiei quickly stripped-he had no shame. Kurama blushed and turned away, towards the shower,  
in which he turned on, making the water boiling hot, just the way Hiei liked it. Kurama sat   
down on the lidded toilet and closed his eyes. He heard Hiei step in.  
  
"Hiei, I'll be right back in. I'm going to get you some clean clothes and throw these in   
the wash, okay?"  
  
He heard a grunt of approval. Smiling, he closed the door behind him and tiptoed to his  
room, so Shiori wouldn't realize it wasn't really him in the shower. He grabbed the cast-away  
train pajamas and stifled a maleficent giggle. Oh, this was gonna be good...  
  
Sticking his head out into the hallway to see if Shiori was there, he tiptoed back to the  
bathroom. Opening and closing the door behind him, the red-head got a clean towel from the   
shelf and set both things on the floor by the shower door.  
  
"Um...Kurama??" Hiei asked, sticking his head out of the shower door.  
  
Kurama was truly surprised to see Hiei then. His hair was wet, and DOWN. It was almost as   
long as Kurama's own hair. Kurama couldn't help but laugh.  
  
Hiei glared at him. "I need help with the shampoo."  
  
The fox sighed and got undressed, making the water the right temperature for him, so he   
wouldn't burn off his skin, stepping into the shower with Hiei. Luckily, it was big enough for  
the both of them. Not looking down, Kurama picked up the right shampoo from on the side of the  
tub/shower and poured it in his hand. He instructed the smaller fire demon to turn around and  
globbed it all in Hiei's hair. He then took a handful of his own shampoo/conditioner and slapped  
it on his own head. Yes, tonight was going to be fun...  
  
__________________________________________________________________________________________________  
Hieica: Ah hahahahahahahahaha! I have done it! I have made a second chapter!!!!!!! Even though  
I've been grounded for the week! I am SPECIAL!  
  
Swissy:Yeah, special....mm hmm...... yeah. R & R, please! 


	3. Coldness

WARNING: Does there really need to be one, being as how this is the third  
chapter? Ooh, mushy-ness ahead!!  
  
Prayers: That mom or sister does not find load of sap...  
  
Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho is owned by nice Togashi-sama, along with Hunter  
X Hunter, Ninku, and a bunch of other stuff. Yay!  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
~A Red Rose in the Darkness~  
Chapter Three  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
Hiei stared at the pajamas. "No."  
  
Kurama nodded his wet head. "Yes."  
  
"No. I'll walk around naked if I have to."  
  
The small fire demon stood akimbo, a towel wrapped around his waist. His hair,  
still wet, the warm drops of water dripping onto the tile floor.  
  
"I won't give you a blanket, and you'll be on the floor, cold and naked."  
  
"..." Hiei poked the forlorn pajamas. "I hate you."  
  
"No you don't."  
  
The Forbidden child slipped on the oversized shirt, losing his hands in the  
sleeves. He then threw the towel at the fox, who held back a giggle and threw on  
the pants, tying them as tight as they could be. The shirt kept slipping from his  
shoulder. He sighed and looked in the mirror. He then noticed his hair.  
  
"Damn!"  
  
The fire demon, slightly tripping over the pants, grabbed one of Kurama's hair  
brushes. He looked at it. He stared at his reflection. He peered back at the brush.  
Kurama gave a frustrated sigh and wrenched the brush from Hiei's grip. He ran it  
through Hiei's inky, indigo, and white streaked hair. He turned on the hair dryer.  
The fox felt like he was working at a hair salon with a small child that didn't  
know what was going on. Hiei, meanwhile, stood still, trusting Kurama to not murder  
his head.  
  
When all hair was dry, including Kurama's, and combed, Kurama opened the door to the  
bathroom quietly. Shiori's light was on, and her door was open.  
  
"'Kaasan, you'd better close your door! I'm NAKED!"  
  
Immediately, he heard the shuffling of feet and the door shutting. He smiled.  
  
"c'mon Hiei," he whispered.  
  
Taking Hiei's hand, you know, the skin and bones that used to be in view until an  
evil sleeve with trains on it devoured it, he dragged the fire demon along to his room,  
shutting the door behind him.  
  
Hiei plopped down on the bed and crossed his arms. Kurama got dressed in some tossed   
aside pajamas that had panda bears on them, and threw the towel that had been around his  
waist in the corner. He put his face over Hiei's, the distance between them only a couple  
inches. Hiei's brow was furrowed, as if he was thinking hard about something. This was a  
rare moment in which Kurama could see, not detect, something was the matter with his short  
companion.  
  
Kurama moved away, sitting on his knees on the floor. "What's wrong...?"  
  
Hiei sighed, turning his head to face Kurama. "...You know I don't hate you, right?"  
  
The fox widened his eyes in surprise. "I know that."  
  
Kurama stood up and lay down on the bed next to Hiei. "You are being silly, Hiei. If you  
hated me, you wouldn't have asked me if you could stay the night."  
  
"..." Hiei said nothing.  
  
Kurama sat up. Then there were arms around his waist. Hiei's head lay on Kurama's lap.  
He sighed satisfactionatly. The fox smiled. This was so unlike Hiei, but... Kurama loved it.  
He loved Hiei. Now he could admit it. To himself anyway.  
  
Hiei snuggled up closer to Kurama-he liked the warm feeling he got. He didn't understand what  
it was. He felt so comfortable, so secure, so... safe. And glad, that the taller fox hadn't  
pushed him away. He felt... accepted, somehow. And he didn't throw it away like he usually did.  
If comfort was for the weak, then he was weak(Sooooo not a Hiei attitude).  
  
Despite his mind's warnings, Hiei looked up at the fox and smiled. Yes, smiled. In  
surprise, Kurama smiled back.  
  
"You won't let me go, will you?" Hiei whispered.  
  
"Never..."  
  
"Do you understand what it is I'm feeling...?"  
  
"Is it a warm feeling...? One that you don't want to leave? Do you feel as if you could  
stay like this forever...?"  
  
Hiei gave a smaller smile. "...Yes."  
  
"Then... this feeling you're having..." Kurama stroked Hiei's hair softly. "This warm,  
comforting feeling... it's called love, Hiei. It's what I'm feeling for you... and  
hopefully what you are feeling in return..."  
  
"Then I don't want it to leave... don't let it go. Don't let me go..."  
  
"I won't... I promise..."  
  
One hand on Hiei's head, Kurama reached out and clicked off his light.  
  
_______________________________________________________________________________  
  
He heard the light tapping of an impatient foot. Not making it noticeable, Kurama cracked open  
an eye. In the doorway, he could see Shiori, with an unplaceable look on her face. He realized with  
fear that he hadn't locked the door. He closed his eye, in hopes that she would go away.  
  
"Shuiichi, I know you are awake. You need to explain," she said sternly.  
  
He opened his eyes, looking at her. He shifted his gaze to Hiei, who was asleep in his arms, his  
light breath going in and out his partly open mouth steadily.  
  
"Please 'Kaasan..." Kurama whispered, not able to sum up the courage to look at her again. "Please  
just wait until he wakes up... I don't want him to wake up to shouting... he might retaliate... he  
might... wait until he leaves..."  
  
Tears welled up in Kurama's eyes. But Shiori was over the edge.  
  
"I don't care, Shuiichi!! I'm so disappointed in you!!" She shouted.  
  
Hiei groaned. "...nn..."  
  
Kurama sighed heavilly and shook Hiei. Hiei pulled away and tugged at the covers, consuming his  
head. "Go 'way..."  
  
Normally, Kurama would have smiled. And giggled before he used this excuse. "Hiei, there's ice cream  
melting downstairs on the table."  
  
Hiei shot up. "Gimme!! I will devour all ice cream!! Throw it at me, come on!!"  
  
He rubbed his eyes and realized the tears on Kurama's face.  
  
"Oh..." He reached a hand to Kurama's face.  
  
"Hiei-"  
  
"DON'T!!!" Shiori shouted. "Touch. Got it?"  
  
Hiei looked at her. "What the...?"  
  
Kurama shook his head. "I forgot to lock the door..."  
  
"How long has this been going on, Shuiichi!? Did you-!?"  
  
"NO, 'Kaasan. We didn't. And it only happened last night. Okay?"  
  
"No, it's not okay!!" She stormed over to the bed. "You are a disgrace!! After all I've done for you!"  
  
Kurama whimpered pathetically. Hiei stared at him, then back at Shiori, who was towering over them.  
She rose her hand to slap the fox. The fire demon growled and threw himself in front of Kurama.  
  
"Hiei!" Kurama shouted.  
  
Shiori's hand connected with Hiei's face. She gasped. Kurama looked at him in horror. There was a  
large red mark on his cheek, and there was even blood coming from his mouth. Kurama, for the first   
time in years, glared at his mother. He took Hiei to the kitchen and held ice on his cheek. Shiori  
followed after them.  
  
"...I..."  
  
Kurama shot daggers at her, and she quieted down. He looked at Hiei.  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
"Of course, fox. I've had much worse than this before."  
  
"Good."  
  
Mr. Kitsune commanded Hiei to hold the ice on his cheek and to follow him up to his room. They got  
dressed, Hiei's clothes had been dried and were folded on the floor. Kurama took his katana from  
its hiding place in the closet, along with boots. They were silent the entire time.  
  
The two went back downstairs, where Shiori still stood, looking at her hand. The fox grabbed his  
backpack from by the door, slipping on his shoes.   
  
Hiei looked at Shiori. "I thank you for your kindness." And stepped outside.  
  
"I hope you're happy," Kurama said coldly.  
  
He went after Hiei, closing the door behind him.  
  
___________________________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Hieica: Dun-dun-dun-dun!!!  
  
Swissy: Hm. Wierd. She wrote seriousness, 'cept for the Mr. Kitsune part. Oh well. R&R!! 


	4. Mental Breakdown

WARNING: Hiei and Kurama shounen ai!! YAY!! It be the fourth chapter though.  
You should know that already, 'specially after Chappie 3...hehehehe......  
  
Prayers: PLEASE, Bob the Magical Pony, ruler of the cheese, bestow upon me  
the power of.... what was I saying? Oh. I REALLY hope my mom and/or sister  
don't find this.  
  
Quote from Jin: WHEE and WHOO and fun stuff like that!  
  
Disclaimer: *wails* I wanna own Yu Yu Hakusho mommy!! Why can't I!? WAAAAAAH!  
Mom: Because Togashi-sama owns it, dear, along with Hunter X Hunter,   
Ninku--  
Bratty Spoiled Kid(me): SHUT UP MOM!  
  
A/N: Soda!! Hiei goes partially insane. I'm serious.  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
~A Red Rose in the Darkness~  
Chapter 4  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
"So you're looking for an apartment?" Yusuke asked the fox, who sat on the couch  
of Yusuke's apartment.  
  
Kurama nodded. Hiei stood in the darkest corner of the room, arms crossed. He  
sighed heavilly for the umpteenth time since they arrived an hour ago.  
  
"Will you tell me why?" Yusuke asked.  
  
"Look Urameshi," Hiei said spitefully. "We already told you that we won't tell  
you! Get over it!"  
  
"Hiei..." Kurama warned. "Yusuke is our friend. We have to tell him."  
  
Hiei growled, completely disapproving. He scoffed. "Friend!" But did'nt say any  
more.  
  
"Um...Yusuke?" Kurama asked, seeming to have lost his courage already. "Um...  
are you homophobic?"  
  
Yusuke choked on his soda and started coughing, some soda flying out his nose.  
He grabbed a tissue and cleaned his face, though he would have to wash his T-  
shirt he was lazilly wearing. Then he smiled.  
  
"I knew it!! I knew it!! Congratulations you two!!" Yusuke slapped Kurama on the  
back with approval. "It had to happen eventually! Damn! When I just got back from  
vacation in America! I've got a kid, and now my friends are going out!!"  
  
Kurama smiled and then suddenly jerked his head up at Yusuke. "You've got a kid!?"  
  
Yusuke scratched his head. "Oh yeah, I didn't tell you yet..." His smile widened.  
  
"Keiko!" He called into his room.  
  
"Shut up Yusuke! You'll wake up Rei!" Keiko huffed. "I don't know WHAT I'm going  
to do with you. Who's here, anyway?"  
  
"It's Kurama and Hiei."  
  
There was silence from the backroom. Then, suddenly, a baby started crying. "Oh,  
now look what you did!" Keiko said, irritated, and walked out of the room carrying  
a small bundle in her arms.  
  
"You three, help me now!"  
  
Kurama knew better than to argue with her, and stood up to help. As did Yusuke.  
Hiei walked up to Kurama's side, confused.  
  
"Kurama, can you get the formula from the refrigarator?" At this, the fox nodded.  
"Yusuke, I need you to get some vegetables and cut them up for Rei's breakfast.  
Hiei... you can just... stand there, I guess."  
  
That was fine with him.  
  
"Keiko, I can't find the--OW! SHIT!!" Yusuke cried from the kitchen.  
  
"What did you do now!?" Keiko shouted over the bundle's crying. She handed him to  
Hiei and went to help Yusuke.  
  
Immediately, the crying ceased. Warm chocolate eyes stared up into Hiei's   
blood-stained ones. The room was quiet all around, as the three came out of the  
kitchen with their "assignments". Yusuke had a cloth wrapped around his hand, and  
Keiko just stared. Kurama had a faint smile on his face.  
  
In Hiei's arms, an adorable infant giggled and reached his hand up to Hiei's face.  
There was a look of surprise on Hiei's normally emotionless face.  
  
"No..." Hiei whispered. "No... I'm not good enough for you..."  
  
Kurama walked over and placed a hand on the shorter demon's shoulder. "Yes you are,  
Hiei."  
  
The fire demon stared down into Rei's eyes. He smiled, a small, barely noticeable  
smile that was totally different from his trademark smirk. "You look so much like  
your father..." he whispered, and the infant smiled widely, showing gums and one  
tooth.  
  
Then Hiei's eyes clouded over. "No... no. I will not allow myself to be recognised  
by someone so pure and innocent."  
  
He placed the infant, who looked like he was going to cry again, on the couch and  
disappeared. Yusuke walked over and picked Rei up. "Don't worry Rei, it's not that  
Uncle Hiei doesn't like you... he just doesn't like himself."  
  
Rei started crying again, and Kurama noticed that the child wasn't the only one  
who had cried this morning. The fox bent down and picked up a single small, black  
pearl.  
  
"Hiei..." he whispered and hugged the tear gem to his chest.  
  
___________________________________________________________________________________  
  
As Kurama had expected, Hiei was waiting for him outside the apartment building.  
The fire demon looked distracted. Kurama grabbed his hand and re-entered the  
building.  
  
"An apartment by Yusuke was conveniently up for rent," Kurama said at last, leading  
Hiei to the elevator. "It's two doors down from Yusuke."  
  
Hiei was silent, his head turned down. They entered the elevator and the doors closed  
behind them.  
  
"Kurama..." Hiei whispered so silently that the fox could barely hear him.  
  
"Yes, Hiei?" He said equally quiet.  
  
"Why... why did the child choose me...? I am forbidden... I should not be liked by anyone,  
even one as clueless as him..." Hiei trailed off, staring at his feet.  
  
Kurama was smiling and Hiei could hear it in his voice as he was pulled into an embrace.  
  
"It's because..." Kurama whispered into Hiei's hair. "It's because you're so likeable..."  
  
The elevator doors opened and there stood one of the worst people to witness Hiei  
expressing love.  
  
"Eeagh!?" Kuwabara shouted and took a step back.  
  
Hiei looked up, and the carrot top thought he saw some emotion in those crimson eyes,  
a deep sadness and painful despair. He decided not to bug the shrimp today.  
  
Kuwabara blushed and said stupidly. "Well...uh...can we share this elevator?? We got  
off on the wrong floor trying to get to Urameshi's to see Rei..."  
  
The fox and the Jaganshi let go of eachother and Kurama smiled, nodding. Hiei then  
noticed his sister behind the oaf. He stared at the wall where nobody could see a  
faint tinge of blush on his cheeks. He felt a body move beside him, and Yukina was  
talking.  
  
"I'm happy for you," she said in a voice that told Hiei she really was happy.  
  
"But I'm too horrible to be happy..." he said.  
  
"What was that...?" Yukina asked.  
  
He whipped his head around. "I'm too horrible for your happiness Yukina! I'm  
not good enough for your love, fox!" He turned to Kazuma. "I'm not even good enough for  
your teasing!!" He shouted. His voice cracked. "I'm not good enough to be liked by a pure  
and innocent child, who has never seen bloodshed as I have, and I hope never will."  
  
He sank to his knees. "I'll never be good enough... for anything... or anyone..."  
  
The three stared at him in shock.  
  
Kuwabara was, surprisingly, the first to talk. "You really have low self-esteem, you know  
that? When we were fighting in that tournament, I thought you were going to turn your  
back on us at any minute--but you didn't. The same thing with the Gate of Betrayal."  
  
Hiei buried his head in his arms. Kurama kneeled down beside him. "Kuwabara's right.  
You give yourself less credit than you deserve. If you weren't good enough for my love,  
then why would I have chosen you?"  
  
"Why did you choose me!?" Hiei snapped.  
  
Kurama tilted Hiei's chin up. "Because... Hiei, the answer is simple. I love you."  
  
Yukina decided to speak up. "And... though you never found my brother..." That stung  
Hiei like a bee. "I feel as though you could be my brother in his stead..."  
  
Hiei laughed sourly. "But, I AM your brother. There. Now you know. Go ahead and feel  
horrible that someone like me could ever-"  
  
He looked at her, and instead of a look of pure disgust, she was smiling.  
  
"I KNEW you were my brother all along, Hiei. I've waited patiently for you to bring  
it out into the open. I know how you feel about yourself."  
  
Then there was silence. They had long since reached Yusuke's floor, but the doors had closed  
again. Kurama stood back up again, and held out his hand. Hiei stared at him, eyes wide.  
  
"Now you know, Hiei... that we all think you're good enough... so... can you just accept it?  
Accept our friendship and... our love."  
  
And Hiei slowly held out his shaking hand, and took Kurama's into his own. He smiled, and  
silent tears ran down his face. Kurama helped him stand up and put an arm around his shoulders,  
tugging him close. They all left the elevator then, and nobody ever spoke of Hiei's mental  
breakdown in front of him, but someone had to tell Yusuke, didn't they?  
  
As it was, Kurama and Hiei lived in their new apartment, Kurama paying for bills with his   
money from his part-time job at the Florist Shop(gee, nobody thought that would happen).  
  
One inevitable day came around. Kurama was at work, and Hiei was all alone in the small  
apartment. There came a knock on the door, and Hiei stood up to answer it. Opening the door,  
he saw one of the most unlikely people he had thought he would ever see again...  
  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Hieica: Woo-hoo!! I finally got around to finishing the fourth chapter!! Hiei having a  
mental breakdown is NOT something you see every day. Moo!  
  
Swissy: ...Hieica is a crappy author, so R&R insulting her, 'kay?  
  
Hieica: That is SO unfair. 


	5. Rei Gun! Babysitting is fun!

WARNING: Now there is more than Hiei and Kurama shounen ai!! Who is this  
next couple you ask? Well, 'tis probably the first of it's kind. I  
think it's adorable!! Read to find out!!  
  
PRAYERS: Mum has found out about my little obsession. Whoops. No more  
prayers then.  
  
DISCLAIMER: If I owned Yu Yu Hakusho, many parts of it would be different.  
Hiei would be with Kurama, and (unknown) would be with (unknown). I can't  
tell you.  
  
A/N: What are you doing? You're not supposed to read Author's Notes!! I'm  
sure you're curious. GO DAMMIT GO!!  
*  
*  
*  
~A Red Rose in the Darkness~  
Chapter Five  
*  
*  
*  
There, towering over Hiei, stood Kaname Hagiri. Sniper.  
  
"What the hell are you doing here?" Hiei snapped as he took a defensive stance.  
  
"Relax," Sniper said. "You impaled me, but that's fine. Where is Kurama?"  
  
Hiei didn't back out of his stance. "Why do you want to know?"  
  
Sniper stared down at him. "I need to speak with him."  
  
Hiei arched an eyebrow. "You'd better not harm him in your 'talk'."  
  
"I need to discuss something very important with him. I promise not  
to harm him in anyway."  
  
"Yeah, you'd better not." Hiei growled. "Or I'll thrust my sword through you again."  
  
"I hardly believe that will be needed."  
  
"I'll take you to him."  
  
Hiei slipped on his shoes and led Sniper down many streets to the Florist Shop,  
where Kurama was surrounded by girls(like Weiß!). Many of them asked him out.  
  
"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm taken."  
  
Hiei stopped at that and smiled, very small, but Sniper had noticed it anyway.  
  
"So it's true then?" He asked.  
  
"What is?" Hiei asked, concealing his smile.  
  
"About you two..."  
  
Hiei ignored him and pushed through the girls.  
  
"Hiei!" Kurama said, alarmed. "What brings you here?"  
  
The fire demon pointed over his shoulder at Sniper. Kurama gasped. This was...  
unexpected. What was Sniper doing here? And why did Hiei willingly let him  
come?  
  
"There's nothing to be alarmed about," Sniper said, and noticed many girls  
staring at him and drooling.  
  
"He said he has to talk to you about something important," Hiei volunteered.  
  
"What is it?" Kurama asked.  
  
Sniper leaned forward and whispered in Kurama's ear. Kurama's eyes widened.  
Wait. Was that a hint of embarrassment on Hagiri's face Hiei detected? It  
couldn't have been.  
  
"Hiei..." Kurama said quietly. "I think you should go home."  
  
"WHAT!? I'm not about to--"  
  
"HIEI," Kurama warned. "I THINK you should go HOME."  
  
The fire demon huffed and crossed his arms, and was gone with a "flitz".  
The girls were too busy swooning over Kurama and Sniper. Kurama turned to Hagiri.  
"Is it true?"  
  
Sniper nodded.  
  
Hiei couldn't STAND it. He had to wait THREE DAMN hours until Kurama came home  
from work. Why did he have to go home anyway? What the HELL was up with that  
Sniper guy? He tore the refrigirator apart, taking out all the ice cream he  
could find and shoveling it into his mouth like there was no tomorrow. He  
turned on the TV. Everybody knows how impatient Hiei is, and had taken three  
showers to waste time. He was in the middle of drying his hair furiously  
when the door opened. Kurama was home.  
  
Hiei tore out of the bathroom, luckilly already dressed, to see Kurama taking off  
his shoes--Sniper behind him.  
  
"Hey Hiei." Kurama smiled at him.  
  
"A 'Hey Hiei' is all you can manage after making me wait here for you as that  
bastard could be shooting you to death!?" Hiei was shaking from anger. And  
relief. His fox was okay. Sniper had kept his promise.  
  
Kurama stared at him. He hadn't expected this. Hiei had stressed himself out  
worrying over Kurama. The fox walked up to Hiei.  
  
"I...I'm sorry Hiei. I should've told you..." Kurama wrapped his arms around  
Hiei.  
  
Sniper quietly closed the door behind him. Was this what it was like? He didn't  
want to disturb the two.  
  
"So?" Hiei asked impatiently.  
  
"Well, Hiei. It seems that Hagiri here... has fallen in love." Kurama smiled.  
"And he came to me for advice, being as how I've had personal experience with  
you."  
  
"Well, who is it?" Hiei said, eating the last of the cherry ice cream.  
  
"Hagiri has fallen in love with..."  
  
Hiei leaned closer, not wanting to mishear the fox.  
  
"Touya, the Ice Prince."  
  
"WHAT!?" Hiei shouted, letting surprise overtake his ability to mask his  
emotions. Living alone with Kurama and people who actually accepted him  
made him a bit more showing of his emotions. And Sniper, in love with Touya,  
THAT was a big surprise.  
  
"How the hell did that happen!?" Hiei wanted to know.  
  
Hagiri shrugged, obviously pretty embarrassed.  
  
"Hiei, don't be rude. It probably happened the same way we did. Out of the  
blue." Kurama volunteered, to make Sniper feel better. It didn't work.  
  
"YO KURAMA!!!" The door slammed open with a loud BANG. "Hiei here??"  
  
'Twas Yusuke, holding Rei in his arms. Yusuke had put his child's hair up  
like his with a handful of gel, and the kid looked SO adorable with his  
large round eyes and his "gangsta" hairdo.  
  
It had been a month since Hiei had last seen him, not wanting to stain  
the child's innocence, and Rei looked at him, a large smile across his face,  
gurgled, and held out his arms.  
  
Yusuke suddenly saw Sniper sitting there ever-so-calmly and dropped Rei.  
Hiei zipped over to the door and caught the toddler before he could touch the  
ground.  
  
"That's real nice, Urameshi." Hiei said sarcastically. "You shouldn't drop your  
child."  
  
The realization of the same thing happening to him, only a much longer distance,  
with no one there to catch him made him stare wide-eyed at Rei. Kurama looked  
at Hiei as he fell to his knees and hugged Rei. "I won't let you fall..."  
  
Yusuke, finally taking his eyes off of Sniper, who seemed like he wouldn't be  
pulling dice from his pockets anytime soon, knelt down by Hiei.  
  
"Hey..." He said to him quietly. "I was hoping if you would watch Rei for a  
little while, while Keiko and I go out for an hour or so. He seems to like  
you best."  
  
"..." Hiei held Rei out in front of him, staring at him, his innocence.  
"I won't... I don't know if I..."  
  
Yusuke smiled wide and put a hand on Hiei's shoulder. "You can do it. Just  
have Kurama change his diaper. See? He likes you! Aw!!"  
  
It was true. The child was staring back at him, smiling happilly and giggling.  
  
Hiei nodded eventually. Yusuke put a diaper bag and some formula on the  
coffee table, and stared at Sniper, as Hiei sat back down in his armchair,  
Rei on his lap. Hiei was bouncing his knee a little bit, and Rei was giggling.  
  
"What's he doing here?" Yusuke asked, nodding his head to Sniper.  
  
"Hagiri... has a little 'problem' that he needed help with," Kurama answered.  
  
"What, couldn't find your gun?" Yusuke asked, glaring at him.  
  
"Hm... that too," Sniper said, as if he was deep in thought.  
  
"Well, Mr. HAGIRI, you had better not go shooting dice and pebbles at them,  
or you'll--"  
  
"I know." Sniper interrupted. "I got the same pep talk from Hiei."  
  
Yusuke stared for a minute, then turned to Hiei, giving him a serious  
look. Hiei nodded. Yusuke had talked to him in "Hiei" language. He  
told him not to let Rei get hurt. Yusuke grinned at Hiei and Kurama,  
made a doofy face at Rei, glared at Hagiri, and slammed the door shut  
behind him.  
  
Rei, being easilly amused by Hiei's knee bouncing game, was giggling still  
half an hour later. Hiei, Kurama, and Hagiri were discussing what they  
should do. Well, Kurama and Sniper were discussing what to do. Hiei, as usual,  
sat quietly while Rei became tired on his lap.  
  
Kurama, noticing the tiring child and the confused Hiei, suggested. "Maybe  
you should put him to bed."  
  
Hiei carefully lifted Rei off his lap and carried him into his bedroom.  
Once placed down on the bed, he started bawling. Hiei jumped back in shock at the  
sudden sound, and took Rei's hand into his own. Immediately, he stopped. Hiei  
climbed into the bed next to him, so Rei could quietly fall asleep.  
  
Back in the living room, Kurama spoke. "Should I invite him over?"  
  
"Nononononono!!" Sniper said, holding up his hands. "I don't think you should."  
  
"Then, how are you going to see him?" Kurama asked.  
  
"Well...um...that's a good question..." He looked out the window behind him,  
staring at the stars. Kurama followed his gaze. The stars were beautiful tonight.  
Wait. Stars?  
  
"It's late," the fox concluded. "We'll discuss this more tomorrow?"  
  
"I believe so. Do you have work and school tomorrow?" Hagiri asked, picking up  
his jacket and slipping it on.  
  
Kurama nodded, standing up and opening the door for him. "I'll see you tomorrow  
then. Good night."  
  
"Good night," Hagiri said, and walked off, disappearing into the shadows.  
  
Kurama smiled after him. That was nice... he wasn't trying to kill anybody.  
Now Kurama had to wait a half hour for Yusuke to come pick up Rei. Despite himself,  
his eyes drifted close, and didn't open.  
  
Yusuke came in to see Kurama curled up on the couch, and walked into the bedroom.  
There, he saw one of the cutest things. Hiei had also fallen asleep when putting Rei  
to bed, and had his arm around the child, who was smiling in his slumber. Hiei had  
looked so content then, like a whole different person from his awake(and sober) self.  
  
Yusuke grinned widely and returned to the living room, covering Kurama with a light  
blanket that had been knocked to the floor, picked up the diaper bag, and went back to  
Hiei and Rei. He lightly lifted Hiei's arm off Rei and placed it on his side. Not  
waking Rei, he left the apartment, locking the door and turning off the lights.  
  
_______________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Hieica: Gee, nobody knows what Rei was named after. Of course, unless you've only seen/  
heard about the English dub version. For some reason, Genkai isn't dead, and Puu is  
not in here. Yes, I am wierd.  
  
Swissy: *is busy being eaten* Um...R&R! 


	6. Ice Prince

WARNING: There shouldn't even be a warning this far into the story, should there?  
  
A/N: Craziness ensues. Yes, I do realize that they are OOC, but that's okay by me.  
And, in case you're wondering, Keiko and Yusuke were in America for a year, so that  
makes Rei four months old. I drew a picture of Rei. He's so KYOOT!! Also, WAY back  
when, in Chappie 3, when Shiori slapped Hiei. People wanted an explanation. Just  
because he's a demon doesn't mean he doesn't bleed when he's slapped too hard. It's  
not like he said "OW!! Damn, woman! That hurt like Kokuryuuha burning my arm into  
barely useable flesh and bone!" and started crying, right?  
*  
*  
*  
~A Red Rose in the Darkness~  
Chapter Six  
*  
*  
*  
Sniper stepped out of his house, locking the door behind him. The thoughts of  
Touya and his conversations with Kurama weighed heavilly on his mind. What was  
he to do? The Ice Prince probably didn't even know who he was.  
  
His sister waved out the window to him. "Good luck Hagiri!"  
  
Unlike Kurama's human mother, Hagiri's sister accepted him for what he is.  
His sister had viewed his conversation with the fox just as she viewed that  
kitten's death. Sniper gave her a thumbs-up and walked away, towards the  
apartment building many blocks away.  
  
Today had gotten awfully dark awfully early, as if it was going to rain  
and storm. Hagiri felt a drop of water hit his head and quickened his  
pace. It seemed as though he was the only one on the streets. Maybe  
everyone was inside because of the weather-to-come. It was actually  
nice out. Not the drizzle that had just started, but the temperature  
outside was perfect, not too hot, not too cold.  
  
That is, until he came to an alleyway. The tempersture around him immediately  
dropped. It seemed as though the cold was in pain. But that wasn't right...  
how could the cold be hurt?  
  
"...H-hagiri..." he thought he heard a whisper.  
  
He stopped immediately in his tracks, turning toward the alleyway's mouth.  
Squinting, he saw a small figure that looked like it was limping toward him.  
He reached into his pocket, pulling out a dice.  
  
The cold around him grew, making him shiver from it's unpleasantness. But,  
he could also feel something of relief in the bitterness. What the hell?  
He was going insane. He could feel things in the temperature. But, still,  
he relaxed a bit and started walking toward the figure. At the same time,  
they both stopped walking.  
  
Was that...?  
  
Touya smiled, a small, pained smile, and fell forth into Hagiri's arms.  
  
_______________________________________________________________________________  
  
Kurama and Hiei sat in the armchair in their apartment, watching TV, the small  
fire demon dozing off on Kurama's lap. Outside, a storm was thundering. The  
drizzle had turned into a downpour in a matter of minutes. How typical. Kurama  
had called Sniper's house, but Hagiri's sister informed him that Sniper had   
already left. He was going to tell him to come by the next day if the rain  
stopped, but he was too late.  
  
The fox placed Hiei in what he thought would be a comfortable position on the  
armchair, and opened the door to see if Sniper was coming or not down the hall-  
way, jacket over his head.  
  
Disappointed and worried, Kurama stepped back into the room, and was about to  
close the door, until he felt an unbearably painful cold. He had felt it when  
he had defeated Touya in the tournament.  
  
Hiei shivered in his sleep, and curled up into a little ball, trying uncon-  
sciously to fight off the heat, and the air around him grew hotter. Eyes  
wide, Kurama poked his head the open door and looked the elevators direction.  
The doors were open, but nobody came out of them.  
  
The fox silently walked over to the light pouring from the doorway. He   
gasped. Sniper stepped forward, out of the doors, an injured and battered  
Ice Prince in his arms. Lightning flashed, and Kurama noticed that Sniper  
and Touya were not wet. There was icicles in their hair, on their chins,  
and Kurama shivered, feeling Touya's pain in the cold.  
  
The fox put his hands up to his mouth. "Oh my... come on!"  
  
Hiei awoke abruptly as Touya was placed on the couch next to his armchair,  
the chill going down to his bones.  
  
The fox looked at him, shock still clear in his eyes. "Hiei, can you-"  
  
He nodded and flitzed into the bathroom, grabbing Kurama's herbal remedies and  
bandages from under the sink. In an instant he was back and placed the kit by  
his foxes side.  
  
"Do you know what happened Hagiri?" Kurama asked as he began to fix up a  
large gash on Touya's chest that was unnoticable when he was pressed against  
Sniper.  
  
"No. He just fell in an alleyway I was passing on my way here."  
  
"That's strange..." Kurama wondered aloud. "The blood on his shirt is dried,  
and the wound seems to have re-opened."  
  
He had a wondering look on his face as he dressed the Ice Prince's wounds.  
The ice on Hagiri had started melting and was dripping onto the carpet.  
His clothes were now drenched. Hiei eyed him and disappeared from the arm-  
chair.  
  
Instantly, Hiei was behind him, holding an extra set of clothes, a towel, and  
a blanket.  
  
"That was very thoughtful Hiei," Kurama said, not looking at them.  
  
Hiei flung the warm things towards Sniper and reappeared in the armchair, his  
eyes diverted to the rug beneath him. Without a word, he pointed toward the  
bathroom.  
  
Sniper stood up and slowly walked to where Hiei was pointing.  
  
"You should take a shower," Kurama suggested.  
  
The door closed behind the dice-flinger.  
  
It was later that the power went out. It was sudden. Hagiri had been sitting on  
the floor beside Touya, who was still out. Kurama and Hiei had been sharing the   
armchair again. Thunder boomed, lightning flashed, and it was the only source of   
light, flashing through the window. Hiei manipulated a ball of fire floating above   
his palm. A minute later the door slammed open, Yusuke, Keiko, and their child   
stood in the doorway with a flashlight shining bright.  
  
"Yusuke, learn to knock," Keiko scolded and he sweatdropped.  
  
"Hey, you guys okay?" The spirit detective asked.  
  
"Of course we are," Hiei snapped.  
  
"Yes, Yusuke. Thank you for worrying," the fox nodded as the flashlight's beam  
was directed on him. "Why do you ask?"  
  
"'Cuz our TV blew up."  
  
"Oh dear," Kurama said worriedly. "Are you guys alright?"  
  
"Obviously," Hiei said.  
  
"ACTUALLY," Yusuke said. "I was standing right next to it and my arm is now bleeding.  
I was wondering if you could help."  
  
"Of course," Kurama said.  
  
The light that was Hiei flitzed away for what seemed like the twelfth time that   
night. He grabbed the herbal stuff from the bathroom again and came back. Yusuke  
appeared to be walking towards the couch.  
  
"Don't sit there," Kurama warned. "It's occupied."  
  
Yusuke shined the flashlight on it. "It is?"  
  
Kurama followed his gaze. "What? Where is...?"  
  
"Here," said a cold voice, and the cold temperature(and the flashlight) were   
directed in the corner, where Touya sat on a spare wooden chair. His arms were  
crossed and his eyes were closed.  
  
"Okay Kurama, why are there evil dudes in your house!?" Yusuke shouted.  
  
"Well, Hagiri was coming over and found Touya in the alleyway, injured," the   
fox answered.  
  
"Sniper and the Ice dude, both known to kill, are in your living room, having a  
nice chat with you. Shorty defeated Sniper and you defeated Touya, yet they're both  
here, not trying to kill you."  
  
"Well..." Kurama sighed.  
  
"We're not sure if HE won't try to kill us," Hiei said quietly, nodding his head in  
Touya's direction.  
  
"The fox healed me and Ha-Sniper found me and brought me here. I have no intention of   
killing them," Touya said. "But that doesn't mean I won't resist the urge to kill you."  
  
Hiei growled. "Is that a challenge?"  
  
"It might be."  
  
Hagiri spoke up, looking to Touya. "You're hurt though, so it would be unwise to fight.   
We don't want to have to re-dress that wound, would we?"  
  
The Ice Prince shifted his smug gaze towards Hagiri, and the look changed to something  
unreadable. He shook his head and looked to the ground. Kurama gave him a look, unseen   
in the dark.  
  
"Yusuke, come here and let me tend to your wound."  
  
The gel-haired fighter sighed and did, surprisingly, as told. Only then, did the child   
in his mothers arms begin to wail.  
  
Yusuke looked at the fire demon. "Hiei...?"  
  
Hiei stood up and walked to Keiko. Rei saw his Uncle's unfeeling face in the light of  
the fire he seemed to be holding and smiled immediately, completely forgetting about  
the sudden change of light to dark. He gurgled and reached out to Hiei. Hiei gave him  
his hand.  
  
"Well, Hagiri," Kurama said after awhile. "Use my cell phone to call your siblings.  
It seems you'll be spending the night."  
  
_______________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Hieica: Woo-hoo!! A Chapter 6!! And I'm STILL full of ideas for this!! As to  
answer someone's question, yes, Jin will appear. If I've got Touya, then I need to  
have everyone's favorite wacko!!  
  
Swissy: If you read this, you are asked to REVIEW it. 


	7. Sofa Bed!

WARNING: Cheese.  
  
A/N: Hey-o again peeps! Having fun? I wan to make lots of chapters before  
I suddenly get into something else and neglect to write more. Nobody knows  
me better than me, so I'm just warning. And I got accepted into a Charter  
School which involves me doing homework over the SUMMER. What is up with  
that? I have to do four book reports. MEEP!! Somebody wanted to know who  
Sniper was. His name is really Hagiri Kaname, he can shoot small objects  
like bullets. He almost killed Yusuke, then Hiei came along and stuck his  
sword through Sniper's innards, but Sniper survived and stuff and Doctor  
Kamiya healed him and such. YAY.  
*  
*  
*  
~A Red Rose in the Darkness~  
Chapter Seven  
*  
*  
*  
Hagiri's sister's cell phone shrilled loudly in the candlelit living room  
that the three of his siblings had decided to all sleep in.  
  
She found it acouple seconds later on the coffee table, pressing the  
familiar "answer" button. "Hello?"  
  
"Hey, it's me."  
  
"Hagiri? Where are you?" she said, and the other two perked their ears.  
  
"I'm at Shuiichi's house."  
  
"Still?"  
  
"Yeah, and I have to stay here the rest of the night." He sighed. "I'll  
be back to make breakfast. Alright?"  
  
She said nothing.  
  
He sighed again. "Alright. I'll come home. I wonder if Shuiichi has an  
umbrella?"  
  
His sister bit her lip. "It's fine. I can handle things here."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes. We'll be waiting. I love you."  
  
"I love you too. Bye." And he hung up the phone.  
  
"Is it fine?" Kurama asked, shifting his gaze to Touya, who had his eyes  
closed, resting from the sudden pain he had just started to feel, but  
talking to Hagiri.  
  
"Yeah," He said, also looking at the Ice Prince, only differently.  
  
Kurama smiled to himself. There was a whisper in his ear, that made him  
shiver from the warm air traveling down his neck. "What was that smile  
there for...?"  
  
The fox smiled again and pulled Hiei into his lap. "Did you see the looks  
they gave eachother...?"  
  
Hiei nodded thoughtfully.  
  
Yusuke and Keiko had left after Kurama was done patching up the Spirit  
Detective's arm, much to Yusuke's dismay, who didn't want to leave his friends  
alone with the Sniper and Ice Prince.  
  
In their private conversation, it was Kurama's turn to whisper down Hiei's  
neck. "Do you think that Touya...?"  
  
"It would be a miracle," Hiei said gruffly, and Touya and Sniper turned their  
heads to look at him.  
  
"What would be?" Sniper asked, eyeing him.  
  
Kurama, sweatdropping, looked at Hiei. "Um...uh...if it ever stopped raining  
tonight..." He quietly laughed, nervous and blushing a little bit, Hiei nodding  
in agreement.  
  
"I know what they said," Touya said, staring at Kurama, who's hair felt like  
it would stand on end. "But I'm not volunteering any information."  
  
Suddenly, something rushed through Sniper's mind. "Before I...um...brought you  
here, you had said my name, my real name. How do you know it?"  
  
Touya looked down at his feet and said nothing.  
  
Kurama and Hiei exchanged glances, Touya's head snapping up and shooting them   
glares. Had it been Hiei's decision, he would have decapitated him then and there,  
but he wouldn't fight someone who's injured. Aside from that, he would have the   
advantage with his fire, and Sniper would shoot him many times with his dice. So,  
Hiei glared back.  
  
"Now now, glaring contests won't answer any questions," Kurama said. "Why are you  
here in the world of humans, Touya?"  
  
"And why were you injured?" Sniper asked him.  
  
Touya sighed heavilly, looking to Hagiri with his icey stare. "I came here to   
see...someone, and Reishyo didn't want me to come, so I had to fight my way out.  
Satisfied?"  
  
"Well, that 'someone' you came to see must be someone really important." Kurama  
volunteered.  
  
Touya's eyes widened at Kurama's knowing tone. Sniper looked at Kurama and   
cocked his head. "Anyway...um...well, Jin helped me out, and I'm worried about  
him."  
  
"Knowing Jin?" Kurama said. "He'll be fine. He's probably bouncing around,  
giggling maniacally. Did you find who you were looking for?"  
  
Touya glanced back and forth between Sniper and Kurama. He nodded.  
  
"Does that mean you're going back!?" Hagiri asked quite suddenly.  
  
Everybody stared at him.  
  
He cleared his throat. "I mean...because they might hurt you again..."  
  
He decided to stop trying to save himself.  
  
"I can't go back," Touya said, looking to the roof. "Not now that I've gotten  
here and seen who I wanted to see. I can't just leave them now."  
  
There was silence, and Kurama delibrately yawned, making it seem like he was   
tired and needed sleep. "Well, you two, I guess you'll have to share the sofa  
bed. Hagiri, do you know how to pull it out?"  
  
Sniper nodded, and Kurama tugged Hiei into their bedroom, closing the door  
behind them.  
  
"You're not tired, fox," Hiei said.  
  
"I know, but it's so OBVIOUS," Kurama said, pulling Hiei onto the mattress   
with him. "It's apparent Touya came here to see Hagiri, and Reishyo didn't want  
him to be...like that, so he tried to kill him. Then Jin came along and helped  
Touya because he wanted him to be happy and such."  
  
"You really like having things your way," Hiei noted.  
  
"So true, so true," Kurama nodded, satisfied with his story.  
  
"Either way, that's it in a nutshell. Oi, you're pretty good!" came a voice  
from the ceiling.  
  
Hiei whipped up another fire in the palm of his hand, directing it's light to   
where a familiar horned Wind Master hung upside down from the ceiling. He smiled,  
a large toothy grin and floated down onto the bed. "This Sniper guy had better   
feel the same for Touya, or else I'll kick his--"  
  
"Calm, Jin," Kurama said. "That's why Hagiri was here. He came to me for advice  
on what to do about his love for his 'Ice Prince'. Then Touya came, will barely   
look at Hagiri, came here, the first word of his lips, 'Hagiri'. He said he came  
to see someone, said he saw that someone, but won't tell us who it is. It's obvious."  
  
Jin leaned over and whispered in Hiei's ear. "He really does like putting the   
facts his way, doesn't he?"  
  
Hiei nodded. Jin giggled, as if that was the funniest thing he'd ever heard.  
The Wind Master bounced around the dimly lit room, from roof, to bed, to hanging  
lamp from dresser.  
  
"Bouncing around and giggling maniacally. You were also right about that, fox."  
Hiei volunteered, watching as Jin jumped onto the bed again.  
  
"You're bed is very bouncy and you're pillows are fluffy n' puffy!" Jin said  
excitedly. He jumped until he almost touched the roof, then went down on his  
butt. "It's fun, you should try it sometime, hm?"  
  
Before he could flitz away, Jin pulled Hiei up on the bed by his tiny hand, who  
gripped Kurama's hand with clinging strength. Kurama laughed and let go so Hiei was  
standing next to the jumping Jin, unbalanced.  
  
Hiei fell on his butt onto the bed at one of Jin's jumps and glared as he was  
continuously bounced up and down. Kurama laughed until his face grew red as Hiei  
pouted and crossed his arms.  
  
"C'mon Hiei!" Jin said with his toothy grin. "Lighten up!"  
  
"I will not," Hiei said firmly, jumping off the bed.  
  
Jin sat in the air, crossing his arms. "You're no fun."  
  
"I know," Hiei said, and sat down on the rug.  
  
Kurama gave Jin a sly smile, and swiped Hiei off his feet, tossing him onto the bed  
just like all those months ago, that night when he proposed his love to the fox. This  
time, he didn't get tangled in the bedsheets, but he was fuming. Kurama grabbed one   
of his hands, Jin, the other, and they jumped, the springs creaking. The two lighter  
ones laughed as Hiei frowned deeply, unintentionally jumping with them so as not to  
lose his balance and slip off.  
  
Out in the living room, lightning and thunder could still be heard, but above that  
was the giggling of Kurama and Jin, though Jin was unknown to Touya and Sniper. The  
two were actually lying down on the sofa, one on each end. Touya faced away from  
Hagiri, who was staring at the back of the Ice Prince's blue head. Hagiri sighed and  
thought, What are they DOING in there?  
  
Focusing on the back of Touya's head, he noticed that Touya had turned over. Now,  
they were staring deep into eachother's eyes.   
  
"I came here to see you," came Touya's quiet voice.  
  
Jin's ear twitched. "Shh!"  
  
They stopped jumping immediately, and Hiei, hair ruffled a bit, got down and sat,  
this time not letting his guard down.  
  
Jin pressed his ear curiously to the door. "Wow..."  
  
"Wow what?" Kurama asked, excited.  
  
"Touya spoke first," Jin smiled. "Surprising..."  
  
Hiei looked up at him, Kurama also pressing his ear to the door. Hiei snorted at  
them. "Snoopy..."  
  
"SHH!!" Kurama said.  
  
Hiei shook his head. Ridiculous.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Hieica: Mooooooooooooo... what do you people think about Touya and Sniper being  
together? You know what else I noticed about this? Mukuro doesn't call for Hiei,  
and Hiei never goes there. I'm not even sure if Reishyo is alive or not. I forgot,  
and I'm too lazy to check. Anyway--  
  
Swissy: R & R!! Also, people who like Touya and Sniper as a couple, can you please   
review Cool Touch? We've noticed Poetry Format looks more like a story than Story  
Format. Hm. Wierd. 


	8. Bathtub!

WARNING: Nothing, you should know by now.  
  
A/N: Touya and Sniper never met in the anime, or manga, but they did in here,  
so that's all that matters, I guess. They could have heard about each other   
and passed each other somewhere, or they could have met once after everything.  
You never know. And it's fanfiction, so it goes MY way.  
*  
*  
*  
~A Red Rose in the Darkness~  
Chapter Eight  
*  
*  
*  
Kurama's alarm clock rang. It's a good thing it ran on batteries, or else it  
wouldn't have stayed set. He smacked it so it didn't wake up Hiei. The fire   
demon in question turned over and faced him, awake anyway. "Hey."  
  
"Good morning," Kurama said.  
  
"'Mornin'," Hiei mumbled, burying himself in the comforter.  
  
Kurama stood up, blinking the sleep from his eyes. He looked out the window.  
"What!? All that rain and not one sign of a cloud in the sky!?"  
  
"'Course not..." Hiei said. "I dried up all 'da puddles an' stuff..."  
  
"Hiei..." Kurama said, turning his head to face the bundle. "You're so cute  
when you're half-sleeping."  
  
He said, "I know..." instead of "WHAT did you call me!?", so his fox knew  
that he was tired. Kurama decided to let him fall back asleep and kissed  
his cheek, entering the bathroom.  
  
His jaw dropped. There was Jin, snoring loudly, in the BATH TUB. Kurama  
rubbed his eyes and remembered the night before. And, just now, he thought  
he could catch strains of a voice, but decided he had done enough eavesdrop-  
ping last night.  
  
"Jin!" He said, shaking the very tall Wind Master. "Can you get out of the   
tub? I have to take a shower."  
  
"Mm...yah..." He said and willed himself to float away.  
  
Putting a towel atop his head, Kurama dried his hair after his shower, and  
stepped back into the bedroom, where Jin was wide awake and sitting eagerly,  
probably waiting for Kurama so they could open the door and see.  
  
And Kurama wasn't just hearing things. He did hear a voice through the door.  
So did Jin, because his ears were twitching and he had a big cheesy grin on  
his face.  
  
"Can we, can we!?" He asked excitedly.  
  
Kurama smiled, put his hand on the doorknob, and opened the door. The site  
just made the two red heads smile. Sniper was asleep, his head on Touya's  
lap, and it was Touya's voice they heard, as he quietly sang.  
  
"Darkness out of night, all sound becomes lost, falling out of existence..."  
He turned his head and smiled, a small, genuinely happy smile. "Light   
requests so much...and continues to fight every time...  
  
"Night is more than night appears, deep within our souls," He continued,  
probably using the "our" to refer to him and Hagiri. "When is it right to   
turn back?"  
  
He saw Jin, but didn't falter though he had a relieved look on his face.  
"Blinking in an instant, to go running into the dim light. Grab a hold of it  
...here's your chance to set yourself free.."  
  
He yawned, interrupting the song.  
  
"We talked all night..." He finally said. "Jin...you're okay?"  
  
"I'm fine!" Jin said with his big toothy grin. "And you got what you came  
here for, didn't you?"  
  
Touya smiled, looking down upon Sniper with sleepy eyes.  
  
In a smaller voice, he continued singing. "Light and shade keep company that  
exits none too soon...unmelting ice...never ending..."  
  
His voice faded, and his eyes closed.  
  
"Aw..." Jin said loudly.  
  
"Shh!!" Kurama hissed, bringing a finger to his lips.  
  
Jin raised his arms in defeat and tiptoed to the armchair and sat down,  
picking up the remote, and turning on the TV, quickly turning down the volume.  
How did he know how to use the remote, anyway? Kurama shook the thought out  
of his mind. He was going to be late for school if he didn't hurry up.  
  
He walked back into his room, grabbing his schoolbag. "See you later Hiei."  
  
"Nmm..." Hiei mumbled. "...bai..."  
  
"I don't have work today, so you can meet me at school, okay?"  
  
"...mm...? ...yah..."  
  
Kurama giggled and walked out of the house, poking his head through the door.  
"Jin, you staying a while?"  
  
The Wind Master nodded. "Mm-hmm. Want to see my show on later today."  
  
"Um..." Kurama sweatdropped. "Just ask Hiei where anything is, okay?"  
  
Jin nodded, completely absorbed in what was on the TV.  
  
Kurama passed Yusuke's door and knocked on it. "Yusuke, Keiko, let's go!"  
  
"YUSUKE!! STOP EATING AND COME ON!!" Keiko shouted. "You forgot REI, you  
stupid..."  
  
She opened the door. "Oh, hi Kurama."  
  
"Yo, Kurama!" Yusuke said, grinning and grabbing Rei.  
  
"Um..." Kurama smiled. "Hi..."  
  
"Shizuru babysitting Rei today?" Kurama asked Keiko.  
  
"Yeah. We've gotta drop him off." Keiko said.  
  
"And pick up Kuwabara while we're at it," Yusuke added, locking the door behind  
him, only to realize he didn't have a house key. Luckilly, Keiko did. "You seem  
in space right now. 'Sup?"  
  
"Oh..." Kurama answered. "I"m just thinking about the four people aside from  
me that are in my house right now."  
  
"Oh, okay," Yusuke shrugged.  
  
It wasn't until they were halfway to Kuwabara's house that Yusuke noticed that  
there was supposed to be only three others.  
  
"Hey!" He wheeled around. "Who's the fifth?"  
  
"Fifth what? Oh, Jin came last night," Kurama said. "He came to check on Touya."  
  
Yusuke grinned. "How is he? Haven't seen him in awhile."  
  
"Same as you can remember. He slept in the bath tub, so that would make him  
still wierd. He made Hiei jump on the bed."  
  
Yusuke's grin grew. "How did the little guy take it?"  
  
"Oh, the usual," Kurama answered.  
  
"As in, he brandishes his sword and threatens to decapitate Jin if he doesn't  
stop, or he crosses his arms, huffs, and pouts?" Yusuke asked.  
  
"The second option."  
  
"Ah."  
  
"Hey Kurama," Keiko said. "You passed the street to your school."  
  
"What? Whoops. See you guys later then," Kurama said, turning around.  
  
Keiko and Yusuke exchanged looks. "He's gotta be thinking about his mom."  
  
"Wouldn't you if you hadn't seen her in two months?" Keiko asked.  
  
Yusuke rubbed his chin. "Hm. I doubt it. Not my mom. She'd probably still be at  
the bar."  
  
Hiei was waiting for his fox outside in the tree, and Sniper and Touya stood  
under it. Touya had, surprisingly, been dressed up as a regular person, although  
there wasn't really anything you could do about his hair. He wore a pair of Hiei's  
bigger jeans and an oversized white T-shirt that probably had been Sniper's once.  
They had probably stopped at Sniper's house, because he was also wearing something  
different, though still with his trademark jacket. Some people crowded around the  
Ice Prince.  
  
"Cool hair, where'd you get your hair dye?" Somebody asked him.  
  
"I've had it since--"  
  
"You went to America, right?" Sniper substituted.  
  
Touya nodded in agreement, remembering that he had to be kind of "undercover".  
After all, a demon with two colored hair in the Human World should kind of be  
a secret.  
  
Kurama walked around the tree to stand behind Touya and Sniper. Touya sighed.  
Sniper looked relieved. "They won't leave him alone..."  
  
"Typical humans," Touya scoffed, and, realizing his slip, blushed.  
  
Of course, those "typical humans" didn't notice a thing, not even the cold that  
was increasing rapidly.  
  
"Why don't they NOTICE...?" Touya asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice.  
"Why don't they go?"  
  
"They'll notice if you drop the cold and they'll run home to air-conditioned  
living rooms," Sniper whispered in Touya's ear.  
  
Immediately the cold was gone. As was the crowd of humans, who started sweating.  
Touya raised the cold once more, so that they didn't get hot. Touya couldn't  
stand the heat.  
  
"Hiei," Kurama called gently. "We're going to meet Yusuke. Come on."  
  
The fire demon fell down from the tree and landed on his feet beside Kurama.  
  
Yusuke had called Kurama on his cell phone during their lunch break, and Kurama  
had called home, telling them that they were all going to watch a movie. Jin  
had gone to greet Yusuke, who hadn't been too keen on having two villians come  
with them, but agreed nonetheless. Buying all those movie tickets would be  
expensive, so everybody(who had human currency) had to buy their own tickets.  
Sniper bought Touya a ticket, and Jin and Hiei snuck in using their own methods.  
Super speed and floating around quietly. Fun.  
  
The movie they were seeing was very popular, so there wasn't seven seats in a  
row for them to sit in. Sure, there was five in the middle all next to each other  
but there wasn't another two close to them. Sniper and Touya took the two free   
seats in the very front row. There were a bunch of previews, and then the movie   
started.  
  
"Hagiri..." Touya asked quietly. "How do all those people fit on that screen?"  
  
Sniper smiled. "Well, they don't."  
  
"Then how can they...?"  
  
"Well, there's this stuff called film, that records in viewing what the people  
are doing. So, if somebody wanted to see what they did, all they would have to  
do is watch the film. Understand?"  
  
"Not really."  
  
"Okay. Then I can't really explain it."  
  
The man next to Touya snickered. "Damn, you're stupid."  
  
A cold grew, a very angered cold that Kurama and Hiei could feel seven rows up.  
Touya pulled back his fist and punched the man square in the jaw.  
  
"Who's stupid, you ass!?" Touya shouted.  
  
"Touya, Touya!!" Sniper said, restraining Touya from further beating upon the  
man.  
  
"Damn human!" Touya hissed under his breath.  
  
Security ran down the aisle and grabbed Touya.   
  
"Get your filthy human hands off me!" Touya hissed, voice spitting out male-  
volence.  
  
"Please," Hagiri said to security. "He's a little unstable..."  
  
"Take it to the police station, sonny," One of the men said. He turned to  
Touya, who had started to make icicles on surrounding things, including people.  
"You are under arrest on account of assault."  
  
"Isn't he supposed to get a warning first?!" Hagiri said angrilly.  
  
"Probably," The policeman said, wiping icicles from his beard. "But I can  
say that I warned him and he wouldn't knock it off. And the court will  
never know."  
  
"Yes they will," Kurama said, coming up behind the obviously nasty from  
drugs policeman. He pulled out a tape recorder from his pocket. "It's a  
good thing I forgot to give this back to my teacher."  
  
Touya growled at the man who called him stupid, and the police officer, doing  
all he could to restrain himself from flipping the man over his shoulder and  
stabbing him with an ice sword. And he was let go.  
  
"Pain in the ass smart kids," The policeman growled. "This is a warning. I'll  
arrest you if you punch another person."  
  
Kurama sighed as the man walked away. "It's a good thing I think ahead about  
every possibility and coincidentally 'forget' to give the tape recorder back to  
my teacher, hm?"  
  
Touya gave the policeman's back an obsene hand gesture and thought he heard a  
"Why is it so damn cold?"  
  
The cold died down, as did Touya's temper.  
  
"Thanks Kurama."  
  
"Hey, down in front!!!" Someone shouted.  
  
Touya and Sniper sat down and Kurama answered with a simple "no problem" and  
walked back up the aisle.  
  
Going to the movie theater was a bad idea, wasn't it?  
  
______________________________________________________________________________  
  
Hieica: I was originally gonna get Touya in jail and have Hagiri plead him  
insane. Woo-hoo. Maybe next chapter.  
  
Swissy: Same old, same old. R&R. 


	9. A Shot Fired

A/N: Howdy! YAY! Nineth chapter!! I wonder how many chapters this is going to  
be? And I know that there is no point, but that's what makes it special, yes?  
It doesn't really need a point, does it? (Probably.)  
  
WARNING: Hm.... you know about the shounen ai... what about the OOCness? Oh,  
that too. Hm... you've also probably noticed that I'm focusing more on Touya   
and Sniper than Hiei and Kurama. Whoops. That shall be fixed.  
*  
*  
*  
*  
~A Red Rose in the Darkness~  
Chapter Nine  
*  
*  
*  
*  
"The movie sucked!!" Yusuke said, arms behind his head. "But the beginning  
was awesome! WHAM-O!"  
  
"Yusuke, you were the one who originally wanted to see the movie," Keiko  
pointed out.  
  
He scratched his head. "Oh yeah. Hey, Icey, why'd ya punch the guy, anyway?"  
  
Touya shrugged. "He called me stupid."  
  
Yusuke grinned. "That's a GREAT reason! You shoulda froze him!"  
  
Touya rose his eyebrows in approval. "Um...anyway...Hagiri...I'm sorry if  
I spoiled the 'movie'? I think? And if I embarrassed any of you, I apolo-  
gise."  
  
"That's fine, Touya. At least you weren't thrown in jail. Besides, Hiei's  
done much worse in public, like the time--" Kurama started, but stopped at  
the glare that was directed his way. "Um....nevermind!"  
  
"That's what I thought," Hiei said to himself.  
  
Kurama whipped out a to-do notebook. He crossed off "Go to movies" and wrote  
under it "Teach Touya restraint". Sniper peered over his shoulder and read  
the list.  
  
"Not very long, but very accurate," Sniper said.  
  
"What is?" Touya asked.  
  
"Nothing, nothing," Sniper said and walked a bit faster.  
  
Touya looked at Kurama and glared. Hiei glared at Touya. If looks could  
kill, those two would have been dead a long time ago. Touya scoffed and  
sped up his pace to be with Hagiri.  
  
Kurama sighed and wrote down "Teach Hiei restraint".  
  
It wasn't until the next day, the morning after Touya and Sniper left to  
live with Sniper's siblings, and when Jin went back to the Makai that Kurama  
saw her.  
  
She was waiting for him after school, standing there noticeably under the  
tree where Hiei sat, on guard. Kurama felt cool sweat on his forehead and  
he nervously ran his fingers through his hair. Hiei flitzed next to him and  
pulled on his arm until they were hidden behind the wall around the school.  
  
Kurama leaned against the wall and sank down, hands covering his eyes. Why  
was she here? To let out his secret, to harass him? What, she didn't get  
enough that night?  
  
"'Kaasan..." The fox whispered to himself.  
  
Hiei peered his head around the wall and saw Shiori's eyes on him as she  
walked over.  
  
"She's coming this way."  
  
Kurama gasped and stood up, getting an immediate headache. Hiei stood by  
his side. "What are you going to do?"  
  
The fox sighed. "Walk, just walk Hiei. That way."  
  
For once, Hiei just nodded and walked with Kurama.  
  
"Shuiichi!!" They heard.  
  
The fire demon closed his eyes. Kurama stopped in his tracks. Hiei, speaking  
quietly, said a simple. "That's her."  
  
Shiori spoke to his back. "I'm sorry Shuiichi!"  
  
His emeralds opened wide and he turned around, looking his mother up and down,  
tears springing to his eyes. "I..."  
  
Hiei, aware of someone hidden, turned around also to make it look like he  
was off-guard. As expected, this person got ready to strike. To strike his  
fox, it seemed. With... with a gun!  
  
Eyes widening at his fatal mistake, Hiei realized they weren't firing at  
Kurama, he moved to the side quickly as the shot was fired.  
  
In front of the school, Kuwabara, Keiko, and Yusuke had been waiting for Kurama,  
a gunshot was heard, and then a shriek.  
  
"Hiei!!"  
  
They sprinted, Yusuke jumping over the wall and Kuwabara running around it. The  
spirit detective's fatal assumption took in the sight. Blood...  
  
Hiei fell to his knees, hand gripping his side. Kurama rushed over to him, com-  
pletely forgetting about his mother and the crowd around him. Yusuke pulled out  
his first detective item, the see-through Glass, and spotted a man in the bushes,  
retreating over the wall.  
  
"Bring him to Genkai's!" He shouted and ran off after the assassin.  
  
"No!" Kuwabara yelled. "Yukina's at my house!"  
  
"Yukina can't do a thing about bullets, we have to get him to the nearest hospi-  
tal," Kurama said quietly, scooping Hiei up in his arms.  
  
The fire demon's hazy gaze looked up at him. "It...was aimed for my heart...I  
tried to...to dodge it completely..."  
  
"Shh..." Kurama said. "I know...Kuwabara, fetch Yukina for the afterward healing."  
  
Kurama ran off into the direction of the nearest hospital, his mother staring  
at his retreating back.  
  
Yusuke entered the hospital room, dragging an unconscious and very roughed up lo-  
oking man behind him. He saw Yukina's hands working miracles on Hiei's wound, the  
fire demon staring blindly at Kurama as his sister's numbing healing took effect.  
  
The Spirit Detective cleared his throat. He held the man up by his collar. "This  
man is one of many assassins hired to kill you and Hiei, Kurama. He was hired by  
your stepfather."  
  
For some reason, this didn't surprise Kurama one bit as he held onto Hiei's hand.  
  
"He aimed for Hiei first because then it would make you an easier target in your  
distress, but fled when he saw me staring at where he was."  
  
Kurama laughed wryly. "How typical. I should have expected it."  
  
"Gladly, your mother had nothing to with it and was sincere when she told you she  
was sorry."  
  
Hagiri entered the room, Touya walking slowly behind him.  
  
"Kurama, I have a problem," Sniper said.  
  
"Don't we all?"  
  
"Kurama...your father wants me to kill you," Sniper said.  
  
Heads snapped up.  
  
"I told him no, but he said to change my mind quick, or my loved ones will be the  
price I pay. Please tell me your father is full of empty lies...?"  
  
Kurama sadly shook his head. "If 'Tousan says it, he means it. Where are your sib-  
lings now?"  
  
"I sent them to America to live with my grandmother for a while."  
  
"That's good. 'Tousan's extensions don't run out of Japan. They'll be safe," The  
fox said. "But watch out. They may not be the target."  
  
Hagiri pulled Touya close to him, arms around the Ice Prince. "You mean...? He  
would...?"  
  
Kurama nodded. "And he could."  
  
Hagiri shivered and held Touya tight. The Ice Prince lifted his head to try and  
see Hagiri's face. "He could what?"  
  
Hagiri let go and knelt down, putting his hands on Touya's shoulders. He shook  
his head and pulled Touya into an embrace.  
  
Hiei turned his head meekly to face them. He looked like he was going to talk,  
but thought better of it. He looked at Kurama who gazed in worry down at him.  
  
"what an ass," Yusuke volunteered.  
  
"He hurt Hiei," Kurama said quietly. "And now he'll hurt Hagiri and Touya. There's  
only one way to stop him. For good."  
  
Yusuke and Kuwabara exchanged glances.  
  
"I know what I must do," Kurama said, directing his gaze to the floor.  
  
Hagiri walked up to him and whispered in his ear for what seemed like ages. The  
fox nodding in approval, but sadly.  
  
"What's up?" Yusuke asked.  
  
"Hagiri had an idea," Kurama said. "He thought that-"  
  
"Touya!?" Hagiri shouted and ran to the door, looking out. He saw nothing, no-  
body.  
  
He bent down and picked up a bottle that lay in the hallway. Crying, he picked  
it up.  
  
"Chloroform..." He whispered, just lightly enough to be heard.  
  
Leaning against the wall and sinking to the floor, he buried his head in his arms.  
"I'm a fool... I let him slip away from me... just like that..."  
  
His shoulders shook, and they knew he was silently crying. Kurama thought of put-  
ting his hand on Hagiri's shoulder to coax him into believing they could save Touya,  
but he thought better of it. In this state, anybody could turn on their friends.  
  
If he even considered them friends...  
  
The fox sighed. What were they going to do...?  
  
Hiei injured, Touya kidnapped.  
  
What would happen next?  
  
______________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Hieica: Apparently, I'm in a bad mood. Phooey. Poor Touya. Poor Hiei. Poor...well,  
everybody effected in this story. Even I'm mad at me for typing this. Alas, this is  
how it's come to be, ne?  
  
Swissy: If you read it, you have to review, capische? 


	10. When That Day Comes

Authoress' Note: Well, now there's a point to the story, isn't there? Chloroform is a liquid that if  
the fumes are breathed in, you immediately pass out. Get it now?  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
~A Red Rose in the Darkness~  
Chapter Ten  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
Hiei came back from the hospital a few days after the shooting. The docters were baffled by his high-  
tolerance to pain and his quick healing. Both of them hadn't seen Hagiri since that night, but the  
doctor did tell Hiei that he came to visit everyday, saddened.  
  
"How could a mere human capture an Ice Master?" Hiei eventually asked, when they were safely in their  
apartment.  
  
"Demons, humans, they're are all alike to my father. He could easilly overpower both."  
  
"But I thought your stepfather was in business?" Hiei said after a second of thinking.  
  
"He is in business. This is part of his business. The majority of it," Kurama answered in anger. "To  
do things like this to get what he wants."  
  
"Do you think Shiori has anything to do with it?"  
  
"I doubt it. She disapproves of violence. You saw her freak out when she slapped you."  
  
"What about Sniper?"  
  
Kurama cast his eyes downward, offering his silence.  
  
"Yes, what about me?" He asked, coming out of their bedroom, holding something round in his hand.  
  
Kurama stared at what was in his hand. "A bomb."  
  
"Yes, I found it under your bed," He said and tossed it out the window. "There was actually quite a   
lot. But I had help with finding them."  
  
He pointed over his shoulder. "He has very sensitive hearing."  
  
Ears twitching, Jin emerged from the dark room. "I came to visit and saw this guy in the streets. He  
told me what happened and I decided to help."  
  
"Thanks..." Kurama said, truly grateful. "I'm glad you didn't turn on us, Hagiri."  
  
"Oh, I probably would have. Until Jin convinced me not to. That nothing could be obtained through that  
because Touya could...could already be dead."  
  
Kurama and Hiei exchanged looks. He's pretty strong, they gave him that. Kurama wouldn't have been able  
to admit aloud that Hiei could already be dead. Hiei probably could, but with a great deal of sadness.  
  
"We have to think of a plan to get him out of the big building," Jin said.  
  
"You know where he is?" Hagiri turned to him.  
  
"Of course I do. He sent the message in the sudden winter he sprung on the Makai. In the snow before me,  
he told of where he was and what was happening. Then, suddenly it all stopped. But the cold remains, so  
Touya remains too."  
  
"Did he seem scared?" Hagiri asked.  
  
"Not at all. He seemed a bit...out of it, but not scared. There's only one thing I know that he's scared  
of. Well, two now, now that you came along," Jin said, and thought of something. "He also asked me to look  
after you, make sure that you won't get harmed. That's why I came."  
  
"We need to make a plan to get him out of there," Kurama said. "I should know the place by heart... I was  
there once..."  
  
Kurama grabbed a peice of paper and a pencil. Hiei lay on the sofa, while Jin floated and Hagiri sat in  
the beloved armchair. Kurama held up his masterpeice, a whole blueprint sort of thing of the first floor,  
on the back of the paper, the second floor. "There are thirteen floors on the whole building. I will have  
to draw them all. The captivity floor is the sixth. My stepfather will be on the seventh, so we have to be  
quiet. Sniper can take care of those guards on the sixth floor. Hiei, if he's well enough, can get all the  
bottom floors in about a second and catch up with us easilly."  
  
Hiei waved his hand. "Fine by me."  
  
"Jin can carry us over those hidden guard lines."  
  
"Don't get yourselves fat in a short amount of time."  
  
"And I...I'll make the zip keys for the doors and go after my stepfather."  
  
"I'll come with you," Hiei offered.  
  
Kurama looked his love in the eye and nodded. "Hiei and I will go after my stepfather. Sniper and Jin will  
get Touya out of there as fast as they can and wait for us at the nearest airport. People won't expect us   
to go there."  
  
That night, the most amount of planning ever was made.  
  
Kurama woke up with a yawn. He sluggishly walked into the bathroom. Where Jin was snoring away in the tub.  
  
"PLEASE, Jin. We have a sofa," He said.  
  
The Wind Master floated into the bedroom and collapsed into the bed next to Hiei. The fire demon wasn't  
going to enjoy waking up later. After taking a quick shower, Kurama dressed and wrapped a towel around his  
head.  
  
Entering the living room/kitchen, the fox saw Sniper sitting in the chair in front of the window, the sun  
pouring brilliantly over him. There was a sickly look, though. He was much paler than normal, and he was  
beginning to get bags under his beautiful violet eyes.  
  
Not looking at Kurama, he spoke. "You shouldn't go to school today. There are eight different assassins   
there today."  
  
Kurama sat at the table across from him. "Would you like something to eat?"  
  
"No thanks. I haven't eaten in the past three days, thinking about it makes me sick," Hagiri spoke softly  
and a bit hoarsely. "Just a water, please."  
  
Kurama immediately stood up and obeyed his guest's wishes.  
  
"I'm getting weak you know," Hagiri said, still not turning to Kurama. "I can't sleep without his comforting  
cold, I can't eat without seeing him there, sitting across from me. I can't live without him by my side.  
These few months have been the happiest of my life. But, like every happy thing, it must come to an end."  
  
Kurama placed the drink in front of Hagiri, forcing him to look at him. "Hey, nobody said it was over. It's  
actually just beginning. We will get Touya back."  
  
The fox sat down across from Hagiri, who stared at him with interest, the only spark of anything Kurama had  
seen in his violets since that day at the hospital.  
  
"And love does not make you weak. It's a risk, a risk of getting yourself hurt. But it's a worthy risk to  
take, because love is the greatest thing that can happen. With all of it's downs, it is still the best thing,  
so don't go around saying you're weak. Because you're still one of the strongest people I know."  
  
Hagiri smiled, very small, at the fox, returning his gaze back out the window.  
  
I hope I made him feel better, if just a little bit, Kurama thought as he twirled his sidelock in his fin-  
gers.  
  
"You know, I think I'll take you up on that food offering."  
  
Kurama smiled. "Want to go out for breakfast?"  
  
"Gladly," Hagiri said, turning and smiling to Kurama, a bit of feeling back in his eyes. "If it's safe."  
  
Kurama shrugged. "Probably not."  
  
"How about we just make something?"  
  
"Sounds fine with me. I'll make pancakes."  
  
Hiei drifted into the room to the smell of pancake syrup. Sweet things... Followed by Jin.  
  
Hiei awoke abruptly and sat on the couch, eagerly awaiting hot, syrup-y pancakes with a humongous amount  
of butter...  
  
Jin just came out because he missed the bath tub and it was too wet to go back to sleep in.  
  
Kurama served the perfectly round pancakes and passed out silverware. He looked at his party and thought  
to himself about what they were going to do after retrieving Touya.  
  
Until that day comes...  
  
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Hieica: Whoa. I finished Chapter Ten!! I got past the almighty annoying Chapter Nine and went beyond!!!  
I've always had problems with Chapter Nines. Meep!  
  
Swissy: holy crap! This calls for a celebration!! Please, review with your celebrative comments!! 


	11. Friends

Authoress' note: Hey people. How is you? It's been pretty long since Chapter Ten, which I'm still proud of.  
What abouts you? Anyway, this is now the eleventh chapter! Isn't it wonderful? I'm hoping I'll have the  
commitment to keep going up beyond twenty when school starts! I have to go to school for an orientation  
to get my classes and schedule and stuffs. Yeah. Emmy's going to the new school, too. Yay! Anyway, on with  
my ficcie!  
*  
*  
*  
*  
~A Red Rose in the Darkness~  
Chapter Eleven  
*  
*  
*  
*  
The rest of Autumn passed by very quickly to Kurama, but not to Hagiri. Jin just loved the bath tub and  
seldom worried about our missing friend. If those humans pulled something, Touya would freeze them. So,  
on went winter, until it came to be Christmas time. Hagiri and Jin stood outside, waiting for Kurama and  
Hiei to come down the elevator and walk through the snow to Genkai(who still isn't dead, though she should  
be)'s Temple.  
  
"C'mon Hiei! It's a Christmas party! I've dragged you to the last few, so you have to come now!" Kurama  
shouted, so they could hear even though they were five floors down.  
  
"Yeah, shorty!" Yusuke screamed, pulling on Hiei's left hand.  
  
Hiei abruptly got loose and latched onto the doorframe.  
  
Yusuke knelt down and whispered in his son's ear.  
  
Rei ran up to Hiei, tugging on his cloak. "Pwease...?" He pleaded, eyes wide.  
  
"Pwease Unca Hiei?"  
  
Hiei let go of the frame and scooped up Rei. "Uncle?"  
  
"You bet!" Yusuke said, flashing a cheesy grin and a thumbs-up. "He taught himself that, too."  
  
Rei hugged Hiei. "Cheap shot, Urameshi."  
  
Yusuke shrugged. "As usual."  
  
"Hey...is it alright if I take Rei for a ride?"  
  
"You'd better not drop him."  
  
"I'll meet you at the temple then."  
  
"Okay, see ya!"  
  
Hiei and Rei were gone.  
  
"It's nice to see him showing some affection for Rei. Rei's always asking for him, now that he can talk."  
  
"Yes, he's growing up very fast..." Kurama said, head in the clouds.  
  
"C'mon peeps!!!" Jin shouted up to them, floating up to grab them and fall back down. "Elevators are hell!"  
  
And so, they walked on, down the snow-filled streets to celebrate, though Hagiri didn't feel up to it, this  
'wondrous' holiday. Hagiri trailed behind them, hands in pockets, staring at the ground as he walked. He  
stopped a ways back and knelt on the snow-covered sidewalk. Jin stopped the group and pointed over his shoulder.  
"Yer friend's gettin' a little visit right now, can you wait?"  
  
Turning on his heel, Kurama ran over to Hagiri's side, the latter who was down on all fours, staring at the   
letters forming in the snow. They said;  
  
Hagiri, my love, here to you is a hope of a wonderful Christmas. I apologise for being unable  
to see you as of late. I... I miss you, and you would have made a wonderful Christmas present  
to me tonight. But enjoy your time with Kurama and the others, I wouldn't want to spoil it in  
any way.  
  
Love always,  
Touya  
  
Tears blurred out the signature as they fell from Hagiri's eyes.  
  
"Touya..." He whispered. "You've already spoiled me..."  
  
Later at the temple, drunken Yusuke asked not-so drunken Kurama if he had any special memories of Christmas  
with his human family. Hiei shot a glare to Yusuke, but didn't draw his sword because little Rei was sitting  
in his lap.  
  
"Well, from what I remember...three Christmases ago...let's see...it was me, 'Kaasan, Shuiichi, and 'Tousan  
came home from work Christmas Eve night because he always does..."  
  
Hagiri's head jerked up. Kurama realized what he had said. Hiei placed Rei into Keiko's lap, bowing to every-  
body in the room, and walked out the open door.  
  
"Hagiri, Jin," Kurama said, motioning towards the door. "I'm sorry Yusuke, everyone. We have a rescue mission."  
  
The drunkards nodded and resumed drinking.  
  
Smiling, Hagiri knew what Touya would say right about now. 'Disgusting drunks.'  
  
You just wait Touya, Hagiri thought, It seems I'll be your Christmas present after all.  
  
Bowing to everybody, he closed the door behind him.  
  
Soon the group was in front of the building in which Touya was held captive.  
  
"Hiei, are you prepared for some butt-kicking, head-slicing maneuvers?" Jin asked him.  
  
Hiei unsheathed his sword. "You bet."  
  
Kurama shook his head. "No head-slicing. Strike them with the backside of your blade. We don't want to kill  
anybody if we don't have to. Hagiri, are you stocked on bullets?"  
  
Reaching into his pockets, he frowned. That's not many there...  
  
He knelt down and shoveled pebbles into his pockets. "Now I am."  
  
"Jin, you ready for weight-lifting?"  
  
The Wind Master smiled, ears twitching. Kurama took that as a yes.  
  
"Fine then, here we go. My stepfather should not be here, so be as loud as you need to be. Hiei?"  
  
The fire demon smiled, raising his sword, bringing it down upon the doors, which would have fallen quite  
loudly to the cement, had Jin not raised a wind to catch them and put them in place behind them as they  
entered the silent, dimly lit building.  
  
Jin's ears twitched. "I hear talkin'."  
  
"...I can't believe he made us do some guard work on Christmas!"  
  
"Now I'll never be able to propose..."  
  
Kurama motioned for Hiei to do his stuff.  
  
The fire demon nodded and disappeared.  
  
Moments later, he returned with two unconscious guards. "Easy," he whispered.  
  
"Kurama..." Hagiri whispered to him. "Aren't there video cameras?"  
  
The fox nodded. "Only 'Tousan uses them, though."  
  
Nodding his own head, Hagiri followed after Kurama, who led the way to the elevator. Jin cringed. "Elevators  
are hell..." he whispered.  
  
"Come on..." Kurama said, and pulled Jin and Hiei into the elevator.  
  
Hagiri leaned against the wall. The doors for the fifth floor opened, and Hiei was released, rage allowed to  
pour out.  
  
Kurama grabbed the fire demon's wrist. "In the case of not being able to use the elevator, the stairs are  
over there."  
  
Hiei nodded, and smiled, wrenching back his hand andrunning off as the doors closed.  
  
"Be careful Hiei!" Kurama called, and the doors closed.  
  
Kurama felt his throat knot. He sighed, leaning, too, against the wall.  
  
"Kurama..." Hagiri said. "He'll be fine."  
  
"I know, but..."  
  
"Who's the one that told me to take a risk and be strong?"  
  
"...I did..."  
  
"That's right. For once, follow your own advice."  
  
Kurama smiled, nodding.  
  
"Wow. How come I don't get any advice?" Jin asked, grinning to happy up the mood.  
  
"Here's some," Kurama offered, smiling. "Don't drop us."  
  
Jin blinked and then grinned cheesilly, holding his fingers in the peace sign.  
  
"You ready Hagiri?" Kurama asked.  
  
The sniper in question reached into his pocket to comfortably hold onto his 'bullets'. Also getting a knot  
in his throat, he nodded.  
  
Before the doors opened, Jin leaned over and whispered in Hagiri's ear.  
  
"Hey, follow your own advice to follow Kurama's advice, got it?"  
  
Nodding again and smiling, Hagiri stepped up to the door.  
  
He knew he had great people backing him up, to help him save his love.  
  
He knew he would be able to find his love and be with him once again.  
  
Because he had partners now.  
  
People he could call...friends.  
  
______________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Hieica: Yah. Crappy chapter, on my part. Oh well. Action-ness in the next chapter. Did you have fun this  
time 'round?  
  
Swissy: REVIEW DAMMIT!!!!! *hobbles off to the kitchen to threaten you with a peice of celery* 


	12. Dim Light

Author's Note: Hi people. I'm in a horribly crappy mood today. I really hope it doesn't affect my plans for this  
evil evil peice of crap I call a story, because then it will be as angsty as Enigmatic, and nobody wants that. I  
apologise for taking so long and stuff, I've been wrapped up in reading wierd online comics lately. And I'm annoyed  
by the fact nobody seems to be reading MINE. Alas, this has nothing to do with Chapter Twelve, so please, continue  
on reading. Yes, I am scary. I must go on and finish this story soon before it rots my brain. Not that I had one,  
but, you know...  
*  
*  
*  
*  
~A Red Rose in the Darkness~  
Chapter Twelve  
*  
*  
*  
*  
The elevator doors opened.  
  
There was nothing. Nothing but the vast, open hallways of impending doom. Holding his index finger to his lips, Kurama  
motioned for them to follow him.  
  
Jin floated to avoid footsteps, staying behind Sniper, who tiptoed behind Kurama. They went to the stairs, and stood   
there for a while, waiting for Hiei. They had to rely on him for a lot of this mission. Kurama looked at his watch and   
was surprised to see that ten minutes went by already.  
  
"I'm worried..." He whispered.  
  
"Don't be. He's probably having a little fun," Jin winked.  
  
"If 'fun' is what you'd call it," Hiei said, appearing next to Kurama. The fox noted that there was a bit of blood on   
the blade.  
  
"Hiei..."  
  
"What? He shot me," He said and walked swiftly away, down the dark hallway.  
  
Kurama's eyes widened. "Sh-shot him...?"  
  
Hagiri looked at Kurama's horror-filled face. He took the fox's hand in his and tugged him down the hallway, Jin flying ahead to float by Hiei's side.  
  
"Shot you, eh?" Jin asked quietly. "Why didn't you dodge it?"  
  
"I did, kind of. It only scraped my shoulder, but had I completely dodged it, it would have hit the daughter of one of  
the men. A small child like that does not deserve death by bullet."  
  
"So, you have some compassion and a small sense of honor."  
  
Hiei brushed that off and halted Jin. "It's right here. Don't take one more step, or those guns will be automated to   
shoot you."  
  
"What guns?"  
  
"The ones hidden in the walls."  
  
Jin noticed that Hiei's jagan was revealed. He also noticed a small bit of blood dripping between Hiei's small fingers.  
Kurama walked up and stood behind Hiei, looking at the tear of cloth on his shoulder.  
  
"Hiei..."  
  
"Don't move. The guns will shoot you when you touch this line of light."  
  
"There are guns. In the walls," Jin stated, with a nod of his head and a twitch of his ears.  
  
"This is your job now," Hiei said, giving Jin a lazy look.  
  
Jin snapped. "Oh yeah!" He looked at Kurama, who was staring blankly at Hiei's shoulder.  
  
Hiei's voice brought him back. "You should carry me over first. That way, I can defeat any sort of threat that may stand  
there. Then bring Kurama over. He seems too in space right now to defend himself right now. Sniper can be last so that he  
can make mincemeat of any person that followed us."  
  
Jin nodded, and suddenly scooped Hiei up, and took off, flying over the laser lines, his head almost touching the roof.  
Kurama reached his hand up. Hagiri looked at him and thought, was I this pathetic when Touya was taken away?  
  
And there was silence. An empty, uncomfortable silence in the black, vacant hallways in the abyss. Kurama said nothing,  
Hagiri said nothing. And they were alone.  
  
The moonlight reflecting off of the snow as it drifted by the window was the only light they had at the moment.  
  
"What happens if he doesn't come back...?" Kurama suddenly whispered.  
  
"Don't be so paranoid. This is how I felt when they stole Touya from me."  
  
Kurama looked at him with sad eyes. "I'm sorry."  
  
"It's fine," Hagiri said, shifting his gaze out the window. "Because I know I'll get him back, and nothing can stop me."  
  
"I wish I had that kind of confidence," Kurama smiled.  
  
"You do. You're just so overcome by worry and anticipation, you can't remember it."  
  
"There's a lot of things I can't remember," Kurama stated, trying to materialize 'kaasan's smiling face in his mind, and  
drew a blank.  
  
Jin grabbed Kurama a second later, and told Hagiri he would be back in a second.  
  
He stood there, in the dim light, and was suddenly reminded of the song that Touya sang to him that night. The one line  
stuck to him tonight like glue. "Blinking in an instant, to go running into the dim light..."  
  
He held onto this song deep within his heart, because it was a sign of Touya's love.  
  
He suddenly, strongly and fiercely, needed Touya by his side, now more than ever. He barely noticed when Jin took him  
to the other side of the hallway, barely noticed the group as they decended toward the even darker room full of prison-  
like cages. Hagiri then felt a cold, a familiar cold, but it was faint. He walked down the column of the cages, following  
the cold signal. He was unaware of the others following close behind him.  
  
He stopped abruptly, and looked inside. Yet, it was too dark. Hiei peered in with his jagan, and took his sword, slicing through the bars like they were nothing.  
  
"Don't breathe this air in," Kurama said suddenly. "It's all chloroform, to keep him unconscious. He must have put up a  
fight."  
  
"Can't chloroform kill?" Hiei asked.  
  
Kurama nodded and Hagiri covered his mouth and nose with his jacket, plunging into the room. Hiei followed, his scarf   
coming in handy. And Hagiri saw him, leaning against the wall, breathing slowly, almost skipping a breath. And he wasn't  
just leaning, he was chained to the wall. Hiei brought down his sword again, and Touya was released. Hagiri gathered him   
in his arms and ran out of the room, Hiei way ahead of him.  
  
He looked at Touya's bruised wrists, from the chains. Clutching the Ice Prince close to him, he looked at Kurama with  
silent tears. "Thank you so much..."  
  
Jin grinned at Hagiri's happiness, but Kurama's look was grim. Hiei saw that look, and went into serious-killer mode.  
  
"Go now..." Kurama said. "Do you remember where to meet us?"  
  
"We've got it all covered," Jin said.  
  
Walking past him, Hagiri put a hand on Kurama's shoulder. "I'm sorry..."  
  
The fox looked at him, and smiled thinly. He suddenly looked so stressed and depressed. "Go."  
  
Nodding, Hagiri took his last look at him, and stalked after the wind Master. Hiei walked ahead, and Kurama followed him.  
They reached a set of stairs that lead up. Lifting foot after foot, Kurama said nothing, and thought nothing. And he was suddenly aware that they halted in front of a set of large doors. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the fake I.D.  
card.  
  
Hiei's hand found it's way into his.  
  
"This is it," the fire demon said. "Are you ready?"  
  
"There's no turning back now."  
  
"Is there?"  
  
Kurama shook his head.  
  
And with a fierce gaze, he shot the card though the slot.  
  
And the doors opened.  
  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Hieica: Damn me! Aren't I mean? Look what I did to you!! Don't kill me. And I want your opinions people. How long do you  
think this story should be? I'm not sure. And it scares me.  
  
Swissy: Yeah, so review it. NOW. NOW I SAID! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU STILL READING THIS? REVIEW!!!!!! 


	13. Major Headaches

Authoress' Notes: Here I am. Doing nothing. This nothing includes typing the thirteenth chapter for ~A Red Rose in the  
Darkness~...wait...that really isn't nothing is it? I love this story, and I especially love the reviewers! *hugs you all*  
Anyway, I must type this and make you happy, as long as you keep reviewing. If you don't, I'll have to kill you.  
  
The end.  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
~A Red Rose in the Darkness~  
Chapter Thirteen  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
It took a few seconds for their eyes to get adjusted to the bright light, but when they did, the two of them looked around.  
The room was surprisingly bright, and had a million computers, each moniter humming with acitivity. Each moniter had a  
special place it was looking at on each floor.  
  
"Hiei," Kurama said. "Destroy the little towers under the moniters."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because nobody will find out that it was US if we destroy the data on the computers."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Unless, of course, your step-father was here..."  
  
Kurama turned around, seeing his step-father stand calmly, pointing a gun at him.  
  
Hiei glared at him, his sword ready to stab into the tower of the most important computer in the room. The super-computer.  
The one thing that held the whole building together.  
  
The gun was pointed in his direction.  
  
"One wrong move, and I will blow your head off."  
  
"'tousan...why?" Kurama asked, finding himself to be unready for this encounter.  
  
"Why?" He responded. "You want to know why, Shuiichi?"  
  
Involunterily gulping, he nodded.  
  
"Because you are disgusting. Gay boys need to be rid of."  
  
Kurama found he couldn't look his step-father in the eye, and directed his gaze to the ground.  
  
"Fox, keep your eyes on him!" Hiei said suddenly.  
  
A finger tightened on the trigger. "Shut up, you! I don't know you, so I won't mind shooting you to peices!"  
  
"You know me, but you'll gladly kill me, 'tousan..."  
  
"That's because you made a mistake. Mistakes are to be rid of. You are both gay an a mistake, so give me one good reason  
why I shouldn't kill you?"  
  
"Because you used to love me, and call me your son..."  
  
"Who would want to call you their son? Not after you kissed another boy, not after you slept with him."  
  
A single tear fell from Kurama's eye.  
  
"And don't call me otousan. That is for little boys who have a family."  
  
"He has a family!" Hiei argued. "I'm his family now! And so is Shiori, and Shuiichi. And all of his friends. They're better  
family than you'll ever be!"  
  
"Shuiichi is in no relation to him. Shuiichi is my son."  
  
"And his step-brother, if I'm not mistaken."  
  
Kurama's step-father glared at Hiei. "Shut up, or I'll-"  
  
Hiei looked him straight in the eye. "You keep threatening, but I'm not seeing any actions. Fox, listen to me. You said  
you were ready for this."  
  
"I-I'm not, Hiei..." Kurama said, unable to look at his love.  
  
Hiei scoffed. "Well, you'd better get ready quick. Because your time is running out. This is your only chance to do what  
you have to do."  
  
And Hiei thrust his sword through the computer. The lights turned out, all the screens on the moniters blinked out.  
  
"Hiei, where are you!?" Kurama shouted, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dark.  
  
He heard a gun shot, and a familiar flitz. Another shot was fired, it whizzed by his shoulder, almost scraping him. The  
fox dropped to the floor, awaiting until he could see Hiei by his side.  
  
"Did you get hit?" He heard whispered in his ear.  
  
Kurama shook his head, not wanting to speak.  
  
"shuiichi..." His step-father said.  
  
Emergency lights flicked on, and the father stood directly in front of them.  
  
"Don't move."  
  
Kurama felt Hiei's grip around his waist tighten. He prepared for what was coming next. Hiei pulled him up and ran, in  
the matter of a second.  
  
"Where did you go!?" He shouted.  
  
Hiei emerged behind him, metal placed against skin. "You don't move."  
  
The step-father moved his arm, and Hiei's blade was pressed harder on his flesh. A sudden elbow to the stomach sent Hiei flying behind him, his sword leaving his hand and laying on the other side of Kurama's stepfather. Hiei struck hard against the wall and fell to his knees, his already closed gunshot wound re-opening. More blood dripped under his sleeve and down  
his hand.  
  
"Shuiichi, I can't believe you brought a child along to help you."  
  
"He's not a child, 'tousan. He's older then he looks, and he is..."  
  
The older man looked at him with hate in his eyes. "Your lover?"  
  
Kurama nodded, and the step-father once again raised his gun to Hiei. "Then you shall watch him die."  
  
Kurama's eyes widened as he saw Hiei lie there, unmoving, even as his step-father's finger tightened on the trigger. The  
fox couldn't move, he couldn't run to save Hiei. He was frozen. He was acting like a coward, like someone he wasn't. What  
could he do?  
  
The Youko in him told him to attack and kill his step-father now. The human in him told him to get in front of Hiei and  
take the shot instead.  
  
The Youko was beckoning to come again, to taste blood once again. He was fighting to let himself out, his old self with  
no feelings or thought whatsoever on murdering once-family members. No thoughts on letting Hiei die, just wanting to have  
fun and kill. Killing was fun to him, there was nothing beter to do.  
  
Shuiichi told him no, don't kill him, he was once your father! You're better than that. Hiei can survive too, and you can  
run away together, where your father will never find you.  
  
And the him in between had no say at all between the two fighting at the moment. Kurama grasped the sides of his head,  
wanting to push them out of his mind. he had to do something!  
  
The wanting of them to leave only made them argue louder.  
  
It seemed as time was passing in slow motion. The finger ever so slightly moved every minute, while the clocks ticked away  
the seconds.  
  
Kurama realized he had no choice. Hiei was going to be killed any second now.  
  
A shot was fired.  
  
And Kurama struck.  
  
__________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Hieica: Boy, you hate me now, don't you? "WHY THE CLIFFHANGER!? WHY, DAMN YOU!!??" Um, anyway, I have some replies to some  
reviews because I have no life and must answer before Swissy can say his line. Here goes:  
  
ChildofMidnight: Who said Jin was going to have a girl? I'm sorry, but I've had plans for him and someone else since the beginning of(and even before)the story. I'm REALLY sorry, and the whole dedication thing did sound pretty cool. But Jin's  
got someone from YYH on his waiting list. I guess you'll have to keep reading to find out.  
  
Ciu Sune: *hugs* You're the best! I'm improving, huh? That's wierd. You have inspired me to write the thirteenth chapter earlier than intended. Go you! Anyway, although I love the thought of having them snuggle up together, they're demons, so they will most definately try to kill "Kurama's %^@*#&$ of a father", 'kay?  
  
Natty: *rubs hands gleefully, with an evil smile, together* You're right, torture is fun...  
  
Swissy: Oh boy...someone kill her please, and end my pain. Review, or you'll feel the pain too, okay? Because people suck,  
and cheese should rule the WORLD! OH YEAH, KICK-ASS! Screw you, stupid humans!! Blah blah blah blah...  
  
Hieica: *sweatdrops* Swissy's mad at me. Sorry, he's taking it out on you. Oh well, at least it's not me. *whispers to you*  
Watch, he'll attack you with his amazingly white and razor-sharp cheese teeth he shouldn't have...  
  
Swissy: *launches into a bite attack*  
  
Hieica: See? 


	14. Tears of Rain

Authoress's Notes: Yay! A fourteenth chapter! WEEEEEE!!! YAY!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! Okay, now that I'm done  
with that, I wanted to ask you a question. But, being the ass I am, I'll save for my stupid "after-chapter-is-over-  
comments". Y'know? Current song I'm listening to is: Sayonara wa Mirai no Hajimari. I'm gonne use that as a title  
or somethin'. Yupsies. Huzzah. Hm...anything else to rant about before my story starts, or do you people just NOT  
care because you wanna know what happens to Kurama's $&*^#@ of a dad? Yeah, you people probably aren't even reading   
this right now, are you? Didn't think so.  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
~A Red Rose in the Darkness~  
Chapter Fourteen(Yeah!)  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
Memories flashed before his eyes of his once-new step-father, mostly happy ones, ones where they laughed together.  
Had it really been too late to turn back? Was it all Kurama's fault? There would be no answers now. What would  
Shuiichi do? He thought too late as his step-father's head made a sickening sound as it rolled off of his shoulders.  
  
Kurama's rose whip stained with blood, as was the fair skin on his face. Kurama fell to his knees beside Hiei, who  
sat up and put his arms around him, as the fox's tears fell, mixing with the blood. That wasn't as easy as he thought  
it would be when he walked in earlier, determined. That seemed so far off now, as Kurama sobbed onto Hiei's shoulder  
that had been offered.  
  
"Shh...it's over now..." Hiei offered, this comfort that he would never show in front of anybody. "Fox, someone  
once told me that you give yourself less credit than you deserve. It took a lot of courage to take the life of  
someone who you thought was close to you."  
  
"I don't get any credit for that...!" He cried. "I killed my own father! How will Shuiichi live without him now!?  
Why didn't I think things THROUGH!?"  
  
"But you did. We both agreed this was for the best. What if young Shuiichi had followed your example? Then would  
your step-father had killed him? Of course, this man is disgusting. WAS disgusting."  
  
"Hiei..." Kurama choked out.  
  
"Shh...don't say anything...we should leave before we get caught..."  
  
The fire demon dragged his lover up and hoisted him onto his back, jumping out the window just as some security  
ran in. Landing perfectly on his feet, he ran as fast as he could to the airport.  
  
"Hagiri!" He shouted, slowing down.  
  
Sniper gasped and ran up to him. "Is he hurt?"  
  
Hiei nodded. "On the inside. His heart aches. How is the ice master?"  
  
Sniper's eyes glazed over. "He hasn't woken up yet."  
  
The fire demon let Kurama off of his back, helping Sniper support him to where Jin sat with Touya in his lap. Hiei  
noticed the bruises on his wrists that looked purple or something like that. Massaging his shoulder, he asked, "what  
do we do now?"  
  
"Celebrate Christmas and make this time a memorial?" Jin suggested.  
  
Hiei and Hagiri shot him glares. He shut up, looking down at Touya.  
  
"Don't you think we'll be a little suspicious just sITTING here with an unconscious person and another that is so  
overcome by grief that we have to help him walk?" Sniper asked after a while.  
  
"Yeah, probably," Hiei answered, and the dried blood on his arm crackled off, the cold air freezing his stiff cloak.  
"Jin, could you switch and carry Kurama? I don't think I can."  
  
The wind master shrugged and commanded that Kurama climb onto his back. The least the fox could do was that. And he  
did, Sniper, gingerly scooping Touya into his arms, cautious because he didn't know what else those bastards did to   
him. He had seemed so calm when he had left that message in the snow. "Merry Christmas, Touya..."  
  
"Same to you."  
  
Hagiri looked down in his arms, and Touya flung his arms around Hagiri's neck, silent, warm tears falling, but he  
didn't care. He was back with his love, and nothing would be able to tear them apart. The sharpshooter held Touya  
close, from fear someone might take him again. He wouldn't let them. From now on, he would be more careful of what  
he had to face ahead.  
  
Jin patted Kurama's shoulder over his own, and the fox looked up, quite dazed. "Hiei's still injured, isn't he...?"  
  
"We'll get it treated once we get to Genkai's, 'kay?" Jin offered with a wink.  
  
Kurama nodded and didn't realize he was on Jin's back until the stairs to Genkai's had ended and Yukina and everybody  
else came running to them.  
  
"'Niichan!" Yukina shouted, throwing her arms around Hiei's shoulders.  
  
He held back the pain and hugged her back.  
  
"'Niichan, you're bleeding!" Yukina gasped in horror.  
  
"It's nothing. We need you to heal the wounds on the ice demon."  
  
She nodded and ran over to where Hagiri had placed Touya, placing her hands over the visible bruises as Kuwabara  
rushed to her side. Yusuke walked up to Kurama, who had gotten off of Jin's back with dull apologies and put his hand  
on the fox's shoulder. "It's fine, Kurama. It's over."  
  
Not wanting to pre-occupy Yusuke with the dangerous thoughts going on in his head, the fox slowly nodded, wanting nothing  
more but to go back and fix his stupid mistake. Now how would Shuiichi be bale to live without his father and his step-  
brother? The poor child was going to have a miserable life now. He could imagine it;  
  
"Where's your father?"  
  
"Dead."  
  
"Do you have any siblings?"  
  
"My older step-brother ran off because he was gay."  
  
Kurama shook his head and sat down at the base of an old pine tree, pulling his bloody jacket around him to try and  
stay warm. Hiei walked up to him and pulled him into an embrace, the warmth numbing the pain in his heart. Kurama felt  
his eyes start to tear again, because that's what an enfolding of comfort did to one in pain, it brought out the tears  
like rain.  
  
"I killed him Hiei..." he said, his silent tears barely visible as they ran down his cold face.  
  
"I know you did, fox, and it was for the best..."  
  
"The best for who? I should have been thinking about Shuiichi before I decapitated my own step-father."  
  
"Fox, it's over and done with. You can't go back in time. You can't change the past," Hiei said with a great deal of  
difficulty.  
  
Kurama's eyes brightened. "Yes...yes I can! I can go back in time and not kill my father!"  
  
Hiei looked at him. "And what would happen to us...?"  
  
Kurama's idea shattered into a million peices. "You're right, the only way that 'tousan wouldn't want to kill me was  
if I never fell in love with you, and then we would need to steal the wishgiver from Koenma...and I would never have  
fallen in love with you...I could never do that...you would be so lonely..."  
  
"Fox, no matter the tragedies in your life, no matter the consequences, you must do what you want. What is it you  
desire most?"  
  
"I desire..." Kurama thought before answering. I desire Shuiichi's happiness...and Hiei's. "I desire happiness, for   
both you and Shuiichi..."  
  
"And do you know how to give this happiness?"  
  
Kurama shook his head. "Not in the least bit."  
  
"Good."  
  
The fox looked at Hiei with surprise. "Good!?"  
  
Hiei nodded. "You need to find this out for yourself, don't you?"  
  
Kurama got his point and nodded. "Hiei, what do you desire?"  
  
"I desire happiness also, for you and Yukina. If Kuwabara brings Yukina happiness, then I know that he is right for her.  
If I bring you happiness, then I know I am right for you, but the only thing I've been bringing you lately is sorrow,  
and pain..." Hiei said, looking at the snow-covered ground. "It was great, for that first night...then Shiori found out,  
your father wanted to kill you, you had to kill your father for the sake of our lives, and not one bit of it has brought   
you happiness."  
  
Kurama shook his head. "You're wrong, Hiei. Every minute I spend with you brings me joy, no matter what is going on around  
me, I feel your warmth and want you to comfort me..."  
  
The fire demon blinked and smiled, clenching Kurama's fingers and touching his lips with his own.  
  
"Unca Hiei, Unca Kwama!" Rei shouted, and giggling, interrupted their kiss, joining them in their hug.  
  
Kurama started chuckling at the pronunciation of his name. "Kwama?"  
  
Yusuke shrugged. "It's the best he can do right now. You should hear him try Kuwabara."  
  
Smile contradicting the tears that fell from his emeralds, he happilly joined the group hug.  
  
__________________________________________________________  
  
Hieica: Yah. So? What'd you think? Hm, hm? Wanna see more? Hm, hm? Want me to shut up? yeaH? Okay.  
  
But seriously, my question. How long do you people think this should be? I'm not quite running out of ideas, but I want   
your opinions. SERIOUSLY.  
  
Swissy: Wow, the seriousness. Not something I'm used to. Review, because she stayed home sick today and nobody cares. The   
end. REVIEW! 


	15. Fluff 'o' matic

Authoress' Notes: Jin's love's DEBUT! YEAH! Wow, it's pretty early. I only posted the fourteenth chapter yesterday, but I   
wanted to do the fifteenth because I was in the mood. Which may or may not be a good thing. Nobody knows except for me.  
My sister is having one of her crazy sleepovers again. It's gonna be scary. The boys are gonna stay until 5:30 in the  
morning again. I KNOW it.  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
~A Red Rose in the Darkness~  
Chapter Fifteen(WOO! OH YEAH!)  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
"Hagiri!" He heard his name shouted.  
  
Kicking off his shoes, his sister threw her arms around him. "Hagiri, are you okay?"  
  
He smiled. "Of course I am. Do you really think I'd leave you like that?"  
  
She put her hands on her hips. "Why not? You've done it before."  
  
A tinge of red on his cheeks, he pulled Touya into their apartment, the familiar apartment that they would once again  
live in. Hagiri's sisters and brother had returned form America, and greeted him with open arms. Hagiri's sister saw  
Touya and hugged him too, because she had missed him as well. He was a part of their family as well. She asked him if  
he was okay, and he shrugged with an "I'll survive."  
  
Sitting down on the comfort-offering couch, Touya curled up and closed his eyes, in half-awake mode. He really needed  
a comfortable, cushiony, and soft place to rest, though he wished it would be in his love's arms. As his wish came true,  
Hagiri shook off his coat and sat on the couch, pulling the warmth-needing Touya into a comfortable embrace, holding him  
close so that he could never slip away once again. The ice prince's head lay on Hagiri's stomach and chest, the two of  
them cuddling in nothing but the warm sunlight.  
  
Once the three children had left for school, Touya tilted his head up to stare into a pair of violet eyes, his icey blue  
ones lazilly catching the gleam from the sunlight. He wanted to drown in those eyes that he had missed so much, the only  
things he could think about as he lay there in his prison. He lifted his hands to touch the soft skin he had been longing  
for so. Hagiri once again saw the discolored bruises on his wrists and gently held his hands.  
  
"Are you sure you're fine?" The ex-assassin asked.  
  
Touya nodded. "I'm fine now..." he whispered.  
  
And he was content.  
  
___________________________________________________________  
  
Jin leaned back on the roof, his bare back feeling the coolness of the cement underneath him.  
  
Footsteps came from behind him and he smiled, recognising who it was. "Hey, long time no see, ne?"  
  
"You gonna hang out in the Ningenkai for a while longer?" The one next to him asked.  
  
He turned his head and smiled once again to his love. "Yeah, better make sure Touya doesn't get in more trouble, y'know?"  
  
The figure next to him nodded.  
  
"You gonna stay here with me?" Jin asked, staring back at the sky.  
  
"I doubt it, I can't stand humans," The voice said, with a small chuckle.  
  
"I know that, I'll have to see you later, then," Jin said, and the presence walked away.  
  
"Yeah, I'll see you," His love said, and walked away with the sound of sandal hitting cement.  
  
"You bet," Jin grinned, closing his eyes.  
  
____________________________________________________________  
  
The fire demon let his love sleep in late today, letting him rest. There wasn't any school or work, it was Christmas  
break, but the fox normally got up early to make breakfast or something. So, with his fox under so much stress and need  
of a wonderfully overdone sleep, Hiei took it upon himself to prepare dinner for that morning.  
  
If he knew how to cook, that is.  
  
Tossing on Kurama's apron, he read the instructions on the back of the box of instant pancakes. He dumped the batter into  
the pan on the oven, that he was heating up because he had no clue what to do, and watched as he failed miserably. He  
shrugged and tossed the finished pancakes onto a plate, and grabbed his own. He carried the plate and a tall glass of milk  
into the bedroom, where Kurama lay sprawled out on the bed, his crimson tresses laying gracefully, but still messed up,  
on the pillows.  
  
The fox awoke to the smell of the pancakes by his side. He opened his eyes halfway and saw Hiei attacking his own pancakes  
with maple syrup. Smiling small-like, he propped himself onto his elbows and wrapped his arms around Hiei.  
  
"I love you, Hiei," he said.  
  
Hiei mumbled something muffled through the pancakes in his over-stuffed mouth and Kurama laughed quietly, taking his own  
plate of Pancakes. He stared at it's misshapen form for a second and burst into laughter. Hiei glared at him, but knew  
that he should never cook again. Kurama showed it to Hiei.  
  
"It kinda looks like a bunny head, doesn't it?"  
  
Hiei peered over at it, swallowed, and smiled. "You know, it kind of does."  
  
Kurama felt renewed that morning. He felt as though the world was just lifted off of his shoulders, as though 'Tousan's  
death had been a good thing. Not feeling tired or dirty in any way, he put a peice of pancake into his mouth and swallowed  
without difficulty, showing nothing on his face.  
  
"Are they good?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Are the food things good? Honestly."  
  
"Pancakes, Hiei, pancakes," and that's all that Kurama would offer as his answer.  
  
"Whatever," he snorted and finished off his plate.  
  
He then hopped into bed with Kurama and wrapped his arms around him. "It's fine now, fox."  
  
The two shared a shower together, shared a mirror, shared everything else they could, and spent the whole day in their  
apartment. Alone, and together, enjoying the other's company. That whole week they never left eachother's side, and they  
wouldn't leave the apartment. Yusuke randomly dropped in to check on them, and to bring Rei along to see "Unca Hiei and  
Unce Kwama". But they didn't leave.  
  
Hiei turned the TV on one day. He was shocked by who he saw on the screen.  
  
"Kurama, it's..."  
  
"What, Hiei?" He called from the kitchen, washing dishes.  
  
"Shiori is on the TV," He said, and Kurama ran over.  
  
Drying his hands on his pants, a very un-Kurama like manner, he sat down by Hiei to listen to what she had to say.  
  
"Minamino-sama," the reporter asked. "What do you think of your husband's death?"  
  
She looked down at the ground. "What do you think I think? My husband was a wonderful man. He was very busy, and even  
through the long nights of waiting for his return, I still loved him."  
  
"How does your son, Shuiichi feel?"  
  
"I wouldn't know, I haven't seen him in a few months."  
  
"Where did he go?"  
  
"He moved out."  
  
"What about your step-son, who's name is also Shuiichi?"  
  
Shiori shook her head and turned away from the camera, walking away.  
  
Hiei put his hand on Kurama's shoulder, and tugged him over to himself. Kurama leaned his head on Hiei's shoulder,  
holding his hand. Hiei turned off the television at that, not wanting Kurama to see the rest of the interview so as  
not to hurt him more.  
  
" 'He moved out'," Kurama scoffed. "Yeah right."  
  
"Don't get angry," Hiei said, offering advice. "At least she didn't tell the truth, right? Shiori is a good woman."  
  
"How can I not get angry? She pushed me away."  
  
"She's your mother, at leats partly. You wanted to sacrifise yourself for her well being, before, remember?"  
  
"How could I forget?"  
  
"Then there you go."  
  
Kurama closed his eyes.  
  
Just when things were improving.  
  
____________________________________________________________  
  
Hieica: Whoa. It's, like, 2:00 in the morning. My mom is yelling at me to go to bed, so here's your chapter. Haha! You  
don't know who is in love with Jin, and I do! *points and laughs at you unfortunate people*  
  
Swissy: You know the drill. Review, or I'll use that drill and explore your skull. 


	16. A Promise Made

Authoress's Notes: Hey, been a while, hm? I've been having Writer's Block for a long time now. But, here it is, the   
sixteenth chapter to ~A Red Rose in the Darkness~. *looks at it proudly* Sixteen chapters... I feel so special. My  
baby is growing up...  
  
*sobs uncontrollably*  
  
Swissy: Well, how about you go and read it?  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
~A Red Rose in the Darkness~  
Chapter Sixteen  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
A slight breeze caused Shuiichi's eyes to open lightly. He stared to his window and saw that it was open. Hearing a soft  
step on his rug, he sat up to see a figure standing at the foot of his bed. It was a short figure, shorter than him.  
  
Maybe my father's killers have come to kill 'Kaasan and me too, Shuiichi thought.  
  
"Shuiichi..." The figure spoke, stepping into the light that shone in through the window.  
  
"Hiei! What are you doing here?" Shuiichi asked.  
  
"I came to deliver a message. From Ku - your brother."  
  
"Well...?"  
  
"He wants to meet you tomorrow, in front of your school."  
  
"Who said I'm going to school tomorrow?" Shuiichi asked wryly. He had been in bed since his father died. First his mother,  
then his father. Now both of them are dead, and his step-brother had left him as well. "I don't want to see him, he left   
me too."  
  
"Shuiichi, listen to me. He had no choice. Shiori forced us - him to leave. But he loves you, and wants to see you again."  
  
'Kaasan...what? "What are you talking about...?"  
  
Hiei instinctively put his hand on his cheek, where Shiori had slapped him so long ago. "Just...go tomorrow."  
  
"But my father is dead...I don't want to see anybody..."  
  
Hiei sat down by Shuiichi's side on the bed. "I know how it feels to lose someone you love, especially a parent. Hell, I  
don't even know who my father was. But it's different with you. You have a third... You still have Shiori. Not going to  
see your brother tomorrow isn't going to make your father any less dead. I realized something like that a while ago. Some  
secrets are better when they are told to someone."  
  
Shuiichi's bottom lip quivered as Hiei stood and walked to the open window.  
  
"So are you going, or not?" The fire demon asked, facing outside.  
  
The brown-haired boy nodded, though Hiei's back was turned, and the fire demon left.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~   
  
Touya shot up. He started coughing, and awoke Hagiri next to him. The sniper put a hand on his back. After the coughing  
fit was over, Sniper clicked on the lamp. He turned Touya's head so the ice demon faced him. Touya's eyes, those ice blue  
eyes, were outlined by a pink and yellow. His eyes were half-lidded, and his face seemed paler than normal.  
  
"Touya...you're sick."  
  
The small ice demon put his hand to his mouth and violently coughed again. Hagiri pulled him close. For some reason, the   
warmth seemed to calm down the convulsions that tore at Touya.  
  
"Calm, Touya, just stay calm..."  
  
Hagiri's younger sister stepped into the room with a glass of water and a pack of swallow pills.  
  
"Hey, thanks..." Hagiri said to her, and kissed her forehead.  
  
The girl walked to the other side of the bed to face Touya. "G'night Touya..."  
  
He nodded at her, and she left the room.  
  
Sniper removed two pills from the plastic packet.  
  
"...what...what are those...?" Touya asked meekly.  
  
"Swallow pills. You swallow them with your water and they'll try and make you feel better."  
  
Hagiri supported Touya as the ice demon took a slow drink from the cup. Then Touya lay back and Hagiri shut off the light.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~   
  
Morning came all too soon. Shuiichi wasn't bothered by Shiori, wasn't bothered by the lack of knocking on his door, the   
lack of his step-mother telling him to get up and get ready for school.  
  
He threw on a school uniform and brushed his teeth. Grabbing his case, he wrote a small note for Shiori and put it on the   
fridge.  
  
'Kaasan,  
  
I decided to go to school today.  
  
He didn't sign it, "love, Shuiichi". He didn't sign the bottom at all. After all, they were the only two living in the   
house now. And he left, closing the door behind him.  
  
It wasn't until the end of the day that he saw Kurama.  
  
Everybody else around them seemed to stop. The redhead's eyes widened. Shuiichi's eyes teared, and the two ran to each   
other, in a tearful embrace.  
  
"Shuiichi..." Kurama said.  
  
"'Niisan..."  
  
Hiei stood back at the place where Kurama had stood moments before. He had the sudden urge to see Yukina.  
  
"Why did you leave me, 'niisan?"  
  
"I didn't, Shuiichi, not really...I thought about you and 'Kaasan everyday..."  
  
"What about Otousan?"  
  
Kurama felt a twang of guilt, as if a knife wrenched through his heart. "Him too, Shuiihci, him too..."  
  
"He's dead, 'niisan...somebody killed him!"  
  
"I know, I know..." Kurama volunteered. "And I'm sure that person is regretting that and will be for the rest of their   
life."  
  
"How did you know?"  
  
"...the television..."  
  
"What am I gonna do now? Otousan was the last of my family..."  
  
"Not the last...you've got a third. You've got Shiori. And me."  
  
"That's what Hiei said."  
  
"What did he say?"  
  
"I have a third."  
  
Kurama turned to look at Hiei, who shrugged. The fox smiled in his direction.  
  
"Hiei is very wise, isn't he?"  
  
Shuiichi nodded. "Yeah, he made me feel a lot better..."  
  
"Hiei does that to people sometimes. He doesn't even notice it, though."  
  
"But, 'niisan, I miss Otousan..."  
  
"I...do too, Shuiichi."  
  
"Are you going to come to his funeral?"  
  
"...when is it?"  
  
"In two days. At the cemetary closest to our house. At...ten in the morning, I think."  
  
Kurama looked into Shuiichi's eyes. The eyes of an innocent child. Much like Rei's eyes, only Shuiichi was older than   
Rei.  
  
"So will you come? Please, 'niisan... I miss you..."  
  
Kurama shifted his gaze downward, towards the ground. Opening his mouth, he replied;  
  
"...I'll be there. I promise..."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~   
  
Jin sat by Touya's side. The ice demon converted his gaze to Jin's.  
  
"Am I...dying?" Touya asked.  
  
Jin looked at him for a second and burst into laughter. "No way! It'll pass. Worry wart."  
  
Touya smiled weakly, and started to cough again.  
  
Hagiri handed him some more cough medicine pills.  
  
What did it? The chloroform? Too much can result in an illness, or even death...  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~   
  
"I'll be there. I promise..."  
  
_________________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Hieica: Sorry to disappoint you with this crappy McCrap crap chapter. I've just been having Writer's Block for a while,  
and this is all I could do.  
  
Did you see, did you see!? We got over 100 reviews!! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! *twirls*  
  
Swissy: Review. NOW.  
  
Hieica: Wow, even Swissy is having threatening block. 


	17. The Random Chapter in which Kurama and H...

Authoress' Notes: Oh dear. Chapter Seventeen. How magical and spiffy. I want to know how long this is going to be, in all  
reality. I don't even know. It's sad. But I do want to get tons of reviews, so don't let me down, people! I'm commanding  
you to review it. Even if you don't have an FF.net account. I really want reviews!! ^.~ They make me update faster. Plus,  
they encourage my computer to be quick for me!! Okay, that is kind of impossible, I know. Sorry. Anyway, I want as many  
reviews as I can get, and every single one will be kindly appreciated. Read on.  
  
It's sad, but I'm thinking of ending this soon. I know, I know. But I can't help it. I want to end it, but then again, I  
don't. Don't make me do it!!  
  
*sobs uncontrollably(note: again)*  
  
Swissy: *shakes head pathetically*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
~A Red Rose in the Darkness~  
Chapter Seventeen  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
Sandals clicked rythimically against the human sidewalk. The figure strolling down the path flashed smiles to random girls  
who just happened to notice him walking by.  
  
Stares were directed at him from every person in view. That didn't matter to him, though. He liked the attention. He just  
wished it wouldn't be from these boring, disgusting humans who didn't have a single exciting thing that was more important  
than him walking down the streets.  
  
Well, he could understand. Nothing was more important than him. No question about it.  
  
Well, except for one person. To him, anyway.  
  
Or maybe they were staring because he was walking around in the middle of winter with a kimono on.  
  
The sandals stopped clicking as he paused in front of a large brick building, facing it.  
  
Jumping up out of all the little people's sights, he gripped a tree branch with one hand and twirled before landing on his  
feet on the branch, within direct vision of a room inside. The window was open, and he grinned, jumping in.  
  
"Aahh!!" Jin shouted when white and blue landed next to him.  
  
The figure smiled triumphantly.  
  
"Shishi, you scared the crap outta me!" Jin said, hand over his heart.  
  
"Oh, sorry. I merely wanted to surprise you," He said, brushing back his blue strands from getting in the way of his violet  
orbs.  
  
Shishiwakamaru removed his sandals, placing them on the window sill. He sat crosslegged next to Jin.  
  
"What're you doin' here? I thought you hated humans," the Wind Master asked.  
  
"Yes, I do. But that doesn't mean I hate you," The blue-haired demon said.  
  
"Why're you really here?"  
  
"I simply missed you, koi..." Shishiwakamaru whispered, brushing Jin's red locks from his eyes and planted a small kiss on  
the cheek of his love.  
  
"I missed you too..." Jin said, and hugged him, the feel of silky blue locks intertwining in his fingers once again.  
  
The Wind Master's ears twitched.  
  
Touya rolled over to face them, but didn't even move when he saw Shishiwakamaru.  
  
"Aahhhh, we have to break it to 'im gently, he's sick so you'd give him a coughing fit," Jin said.  
  
"Okay," Shishiwakamaru said, and turned to face Touya. "Jin and I are going out. Yup, we're in love with each other."  
  
Jin looked at him with one of those funny-scared looks on his face. "Talk about breakin' it gently!"  
  
"Oh? That wasn't gentle? Crap. Sorry," Shishiwakamaru said.  
  
Touya gave a small smile and nodded. "As if I didn't hear him when he called you 'koi'..." Touya said hoarsely. "Where's  
Hagiri?"  
  
"Oh, he went to the store to get ya some soup. He said it soothes your throat."  
  
Touya nodded again, but his sickly eyes showed his longing for Hagiri to come home so he could lay in his arms. But he also  
longed for everyone to stay away because they might get the illness he had. Kami knows if it's contagious or not.  
  
"So?" Touya asked.  
  
"So what?"  
  
"Tell me the story..." He asked quietly.  
  
Jin grinned maniacally. "Sure, but I'll have to leave out...certain details. Okay?"  
  
Touya nodded.  
  
"Well, it was when I returned to the Makai the day before you were kidnapped(you know, way back when in chapter nine). It  
only took five days really. Because I returned five days after I had left. But, there I was all alone, when..."  
  
[Jin sat on the cold, hard ground, his back hunched over. He would have been easy prey had he not been the hunter. A fat  
demon rat hobbled by him, right next to him, and Jin snatched it from the ground, immediately killing it by snapping it's   
neck. Painless. He returned with it back to his camp, where he heard voices. Crouching down in the bushes, he placed his   
lunch by his side, and used his strong hands to push the leaves from his face.  
  
There, he saw nothing to worry about.  
  
Shishiwakamaru and Suzuki(oh! Sorry, BEAUTIFUL Suzuki) both sat in front of his fire, feeding it more logs so it didn't die.  
  
"Think we should wait for him?" Shishiwakamaru asked.  
  
Suzuki, not in his clown attire, shrugged, longing for a mirror(O.o;;).  
  
Grinning, Jin instinctively reached to his side, snatching up another fat rat, killing it instantly. The two wouldn't each  
eat their own rat, he knew. They had to watch their weight, after all, is what they would say.  
  
"Hey-a!!" Jin shouted to them, and Suzuki waved. "Rat?"  
  
"Oh no, thanks. I have to watch my weight." As if THAT wasn't expected...  
  
"Too bad, you're eating anyway."  
  
It wasn't until the third night that Jin's company had spent with him did Shishiwakamaru become entranced by him. How little  
that he cared about his self-image. Jin piqued interest and, for once in his life, Shishi wasn't staring at himself in the  
mirror. Once he noticed that, he realized that it wasn't simply interest.  
  
It was something more.]  
  
The story was interrupted when the door swung open and Hagiri walked in with a tray that had a mug and a bowl on it. Eyeing  
Shishiwakamaru, he placed the tray down and reached into his pocket, pulling out a dice.  
  
"Peace, human," Shishiwakamaru said.  
  
Sniper looked to Touya, who nodded.  
  
Carrying the tray to Touya, he noticed the ice demon constantly avoiding his gaze. "What's wrong?"  
  
"I"m sorry, Hagiri," Touya said to him, looking up. "I've caused you so much trouble."  
  
"Not in the least bit," the sniper said, placing the tray on the night table by Touya's side.  
  
"What are you talking about? I'm weak. I get captured, saved, and then sick. Well, I'm fed up with being so weak."  
  
It was amazing that he didn't get into another coughing fit after saying all that.  
  
"You aren't weak at all. Just...a bit unfortunate."  
  
Touya said nothing. He took his first sip of the soup set by his side. Had he not been sick, he probably would have liked   
it.  
  
"Oh, uh...Hagiri, this is Shishiwakamaru," Jin said, introducing the samurai by his side. "Yeah, it's a mouthful, so most  
of the time we call him Shishi, though he hates it. Please note 'e looks nice now, but he turns into a small demon thing  
and he has an enormously short fuse."  
  
Hagiri arched a brow but nodded anyway. He wasn't one to forget details. He would be saved many times because of that memory   
of his.  
  
Memory serves well.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________________  
  
Hieica: Kinda short n' pointless. No real action here, just the unveiling of Shishiwakamaru.  
  
Darn you Sarah aka Celebi! You HAD to go and guess right, didn't you!?  
  
Hi Ciu!! ^.~  
  
Swissy: REVIEW!! *falls asleep on spot*  
  
Hieica: O.o...Well, ai shiteru! ^.~ 


	18. Stuck with You

Authoress's Notes: WOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! I HAVE A COMPUTER AGAIN!! I am sad to announce that, though I have a  
computer again, all of my half-typed stories were lost. I'm starting from scratch. Thank Fanfiction.net for backup copies of  
my fics. And it's become apparent that NONE OF YOU READ MY BIO!! Everybody's been asking for MORE. Did I tell you I didn't  
have a computer? YES!! I DID!! Read my bio once in a while, ya? And Sunday, January 11, is my birthday!! Then I will be  
officially FOURTEEN!! WOOOOOO!! I got my computer back three days before my birthday!! The greatest present of all.  
  
I just want to let everybody know how much I missed you all! *hugs reviewers*  
  
On with the fic!!  
  
------------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~A Red Rose in the Darkness~  
Chapter Eighteen  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
------------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
  
  
A blue Thursday. Foggy, misty, and rainy. Kurama stood leaned against a tree which protected him from the rainfall. The  
funeral was on this cold Thursday. He felt out of place, though he was wearing the same kind of velvet black suit as all  
the other men. There were people from his step-father's job. Hiei concealed himself in the tree.  
  
"How cliché," Kurama said, waving his hand.  
  
"What?" Hiei responded.  
  
"The raining at a funeral. As though we are simply on a television show or in a story written by some sick person." (Little  
do they know...)  
  
"Who knows? We could be."  
  
Kurama shook his head. "Don't you feel out of place, Hiei?"  
  
There was silence a moment. "Why, do you?"  
  
"Yes..." Kurama said, staring at his brown-haired step-brother who was hiding under a black umbrella. "I don't really have  
a right to be here, do I?"  
  
"You do," Hiei said after some thought. "You never break your promises."  
  
"Is that my only reason?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Why are you here, Hiei?" Kurama asked, looking up to see a shadow in the branches.  
  
"With you." Ah, a man of few words. "And to honor that in which we have destroyed."  
  
And to honor that in which we have destroyed. Those words would stay with Kurama in his heart forever. He hadn't thought  
about it that way. But, Hiei, in his own way, was brutally right. They had destroyed him, his life, his wife's heart. And,  
though Kurama couldn't say it like it was destroy or be destroyed, he knew that's how it was.  
  
"It is survival of the fittest," Hiei said quietly.  
  
"Can you not regard it as though he was an animal?" Kurama said, slightly irritable.  
  
"But he was. We all are, in a way."  
  
"Hiei, please," Kurama said, massaging his temples.  
  
"...you need to face the reality someday, Kurama."  
  
With that, there was a simple "flitz", and the remaints of Hiei was a fading flare of ki. Few leaves fell to the ground  
from the disturbance, and Kurama caught one in the palm of his hand. Staring at it, he noticed a raindrop fall from the tip.  
Tears were rolling down his cheek before the raindrop hit the ground.  
  
Shuiichi walked up to him. "You came..."  
  
Kurama whisked his tears away onto his sleeve. With a small smile on his face, he turned and looked at his stepbrother.  
"Of course I came. I never to break my promises."  
  
  
  
"Hey, feelin' any better?" Jin's all-too-cheery voice asked Touya after a boom of thunder.  
  
The ice demon stood, albeit shakily. "Yes. Thanks to this...human medicine."  
  
"Snipe's sleepin'?" Jin asked, sitting on the windowsill lit up by the moonlight.  
  
"...yes. It has been long since he last got a decent night of rest. I don't wish to be a burden to him..." Touya said, eyes  
cast downward.  
  
"Yeah, an' I know that, an' he knows that. You can't help it anyway, trouble's your middle name," Jin said with a grin. "It  
comes to you like a magnet!"  
  
"Magnet?"  
  
"Nevermind, there."  
  
"Thank you, Jin."  
  
"Hm?" The wind master said with an arched brow.  
  
"For helping Hagiri to take care of me. I've been such a nuisance, to everyone..." Touya looked up at Jin, who threw his arm  
around the small demon's shoulders. Touya tensed a moment, but let it slide.  
  
"Don' belittle yerself! You're much cooler than you think you are!" Jin winked.  
  
Touya was surprised. He didn't know Jin knew a word like belittle.  
  
"Anyway, bud, I'm leavin' ya, now that you're all feelin' good-like," Jin said, releasing Touya from his death hold.  
  
Touya looked at him with surprised eyes. "You're leaving? Already? Does this have to do with Shishiwakamaru?"  
  
Jin shrugged. "Well, yeah...but we're fighters, ya know? We belong in the Demon World!"  
  
"I know...when are you leaving?"  
  
"Right now."  
  
"You're kidding!" Touya said, unable to believe Jin.  
  
Jin laughed at him. "I gotcha! You slipped! You should more often, it'll make ya sound more human! Anyway, gotta go now!  
Shishi might be waitin' fer some puppy love or somethin'."  
  
Touya made a face that wasn't quite hidden in the dark.  
  
Jin laughed again. "I'll check up on ya, to see if you're getting kidnapped anytime soon, 'kay?"  
  
Touya smirked, nodding.  
  
"Farewell, Jin..."  
  
"What's all this 'farewell' crap? Try, 'see ya later, Jin!' or 'next time, homey!'"  
  
Touya arched an eyebrow. "'See you later, Jin.'"  
  
Climbing out the window into the rain, Jin poked his head back in. "Good enough! Bye, Toy!"  
  
The window slammed shut.  
  
Touya stared for a second. Homey?  
  
  
  
It was late when Kurama stepped into the apartment bedroom. He didn't even notice the red stares, and he closed the bathroom  
door behind him.  
  
After he was done, he climbed into the bed and stared at the ceiling. He was exhausted, yet he was wide awake at the same  
time.  
  
You need to face the reality someday, Kurama...  
  
That phrase rung in his mind, he couldn't destroy it. The more he wanted it gone, the stronger it became embedded in his  
mind.  
  
He turned his head to gaze upon the one who slept peacefully beside him. The one who's words stuck with you forever. The  
fox sighed, brushing those black, white, and indigo bangs from all three of Hiei's eyes. The third, uncovered on his fore-  
head remained open to stay alert for any danger. The fox sighed once again.  
  
What did Hiei think of all this?  
  
The beauty that slept by his side, so innocent in slumber. Kurama realised that he never once asked what Hiei's thoughts  
were on anything they did. Hiei remained loyal to him, never questioning his actions. It was about time Kurama talked to  
him about it.  
  
Hiei turned over in his sleep, his bare back facing Kurama.  
  
"What are your thoughts on this, Hiei...?" The fox whispered.  
  
Crimson eyes bore into the wall as the fire demon lay awake, unbeknownst to his lover beside him.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Hieica: Well? Yeah, I thought it was cruddy too. First of all, NO WAY IN HELL would I EVER kill off Touya. Don't WORRY,   
peeps! Second of all, it wasn't a very good comeback since my computer has been alive again, but it will have to do.  
  
Third, we had to write this short story about a picture they showed us in school, so I did and handed it in. Then, the  
next day, my teacher came up to me and told me I should seriously consider becoming an author!! WEEEEEEEEEEE!!! That made  
me feel very special.  
  
Swissy: *yawns* Hey there, I'm back for reviewer-threatening deeds!! *grins evilly* REVIEW, or I'll butt-slap you, ass   
cakes!!  
  
Hieica: *sweatdrops*  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Yeah.... 


	19. Pretend To Know what's Going On, Please

Authoress's Notes: Here I am. WOOT WOOT. I want to get this ficcie done soon. Whaddya think? Around thirty chapters, I think. Like, really awesome Hikari Nanase story length. Hm? Yeah, she r0x3rs your b0x3rs!! But she doesn't do anything anymore. *is sad* Anyway, I also most certainly recommend Ciu Sune's fics!! Our relationship started when I told her I loved her for reviewing all my fics! Good times, good times...  
  
Actually, still good times. What the hell am I talking about?  
  
Anyway, I should probably get on with the fic now, because I notice nobody ever reads this, so I have to put it in the end authoress' notes because nobody pays attention to up HERE!!! Sure, only read down THERE, as if up HERE isn't good enough for you!!!!  
  
*mutters viciously*  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~A Red Rose in the Darkness~  
Chapter Nineteen  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"So, Hiei, what are you doing today?" Kurama asked Hiei, who was seated across from him at their tiny kitchen table.  
  
After chewing a pancake that he shoveled into his mouth and swallowing it whole, he replied with a sarcastic, "I'll laze around and pretend I know what I should be doing."  
  
Kurama stared at him a moment. Hiei was acting more...casual this morning. It was then the fox noticed Hiei's tiny feet propped up on the table beside him.  
  
The fox clicked his tongue, shaking his finger. "Hiei, feet off the table."  
  
Hiei looked at his feet a moment, then swung them off of the table.  
  
"Hiei," Kurama decided to slowly slip into a conversation, "Are you okay?"  
  
The fire demon snorted in response. Good answer. Kurama was on the right track. The goal was to get Hiei feeling as concerned as possible and then ask him how he felt about it all. The fox is very devious.  
  
"Why do you ask?" Hiei reluctantly asked.  
  
"Oh, no reason that I'm happy enough to tell you about..."  
  
Hiei sat up straight, fully aware of his lover now. "You aren't happy?"  
  
Kurama sighed in response, altering his brow just enough to seem depressed about something. He said nothing. No denial, no agreement, just to rack Hiei's brain until he comes out with the one question. Right about...now.  
  
"What's wrong?" Hiei asked, trying to stare into Kurama's eyes.  
  
The fox turned away, as if forsaken enough to not be able to look into those eyes.  
  
"Fox, I want you to tell me now. What is wrong?" Hiei asked sternly.  
  
"N-nothing..." Kurama said, pretend studdering.  
  
"Kurama."  
  
"I"m sorry, Hiei..."  
  
"If you still think that your step-father's death was your fault, I told you before. It was self-defense. Clearly you had the right to protect...yourself," Hiei paused. How very un-Hiei-like.  
  
Kurama knew what that pause was about. It wasn't himself that Kurama was protecting, it was Hiei. The fire demon didn't want to admit it, but he probably thought that he was weak. Kurama felt sorry for leading him on like this. He leaned over the table to be closer to Hiei.  
  
"Hiei, you know very well who I was protecting."  
  
His head snapped up to meet Kurama's gaze. "Stop. I don't like feeling so weak. Do not remind me."  
  
Kurama decided to quote Hiei on something he had said to him the morning before. "You need to face the reality someday, Hiei."  
  
A glare was set his way. Kurama hadn't seen that glare in a while. Hiei wasn't one to enjoy when his own advice was sent his way. No doubt on the inside Hiei felt exactly how he made Kurama feel that morning. Like crap, to put it in understandable terms. Kurama regretted saying that, but it was true, and they had both better face the truth before it was too late.  
  
Hiei realised that the fox might seem offended, and he softened his gaze. "I will see you when you come home. I am going to visit the Kuwabara household and do the 'babysitting' of Rei."  
  
Kurama leaned back in his chair. "Yes..."  
  
He was about to say more, but the phone by his side rang. He picked it up. "Hagiri? Hello."  
  
Hiei stood, pulling his trademark black cloak over his head, and picking up his sword.  
  
"What!? Touya was sick and you didn't even tell us? You know I could've made some herbal remedies to easily cure him," Kurama said, pulling his medicine out from under the sink, a better place than in the bathroom.  
  
"Of course it wouldn't taste bad, I'm not that cruel...what are you talking about? It wouldn't inconvenience me at all...ah, Hiei. I'll check."  
  
Kurama, mixing his plants together, held the phone to his shoulder. "Hiei, on your way to the Kuwabaras' could you drop off this medicine for Touya? Jin would come had he not gone back to the Makai..."  
  
Ah, the Makai. Hiei remembered it well. It was where he belonged. Where none remained not stained in blood. Although, the thought of belonging still made him itch inside, with the name he had given up. The Forbidden Child. It stuck with him no matter what he did, no matter who told him he belonged with them. He even sometimes thought of giving Kurama up and go back to his former way of life, not caring about anyone, not even himself.  
  
But of course, he knew that he couldn't ever leave Kurama, no matter what came up. And, now that Yukina stayed here in the Ningenkai as well, Hiei also felt obligated to her. Then there was Rei...one of the few he knew that wasn't stained in blood that he cared about.  
  
"Hiei?" Kurama asked again, breaking his thoughts.  
  
"As you wish," Hiei replied, simply.  
  
For some reason, that hit Kurama in the chest like a knife twisting through his heart. Hiei constantly listened and obeyed every word that came out of Kurama's mouth, and Kurama was starting to get tired of it, though some people would use that to their advantage, Kurama wasn't one of them.  
  
Hiei was hopelessly loyal and devoted to those he cared about or respected. Not many on those lists, but Hiei was strange. Kuwabara was even on those lists, shocking enough. The three at the top of the list were Kurama, Yukina, and Rei, whom Hiei hadn't seen in a while and felt the need to go see the child. The child that was more than likely causing trouble. After all, his father WAS Yusuke Urameshi who attracted trouble in pathetically large portions.  
  
Kurama handed him the bottle, and he flitzed away.  
  
The fox stared after him a moment, with a sad glance. He couldn't keep the fire demon cooped up forever...  
  
It seemed he got to Sniper's apartment to quickly because he had no time to think about anything. He knocked on the window of Hagiri and Touya's bedroom. The ice master stood from the bed and opened the window. Hiei made a quick observation. "You seem well. In need of rest, but well, nonetheless."  
  
"Kurama made this for any after-effects," Touya explained, rubbing his temples.  
  
"Where is Sniper?" Hiei asked out of curiosity.  
  
"He left already."  
  
"So you get left behind as well..." Hiei muttered to himself.  
  
"Not at all. Hagiri is always eager to see me after school and work. I can see it in his eyes."  
  
Something clicked in Hiei's mind. He knew what he had to do to help Kurama, because obeying his every command didn't seem to work enough.  
  
"What do you think if...I got a job?" Hiei asked. He wanted to help Kurama in any way he could.  
  
"Well, I..." Touya thought for a moment. "As long as you stay away from flammable items, you would be fine. Also, no killing or flipping over the shoulder. You know, that kind of thing."  
  
"And you're one to talk, right?" asked Hiei, remembering the "movies".  
  
Touya blushed ever so softly. "There's something about a job you would abhor, Hiei."  
  
"And what is that?"  
  
"There are people above you, that will boss you around, get angry with you, and yell at you. I know that you are one who is not used to being looked down upon (pardon the pun), so getting a job would not be something you would enjoy."  
  
Who said he was in it for the pleasure? If he had to be looked down upon, in more ways than one, then so be it. Anything for his fox.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Hieica: WHOA!! Where do you think Hiei could get a job? I have no idea! HELP!!! Anyway, that's chapter nineteen for you. Have fun! ^.^  
  
Swissy: Review!! *brandishes a cucumber* BEWARE THE CUCUMBER!! *martial artist screech*  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
What are you people waiting for!? REVIEW!! 


	20. Sitting on Babies

Authoress Notes: Hey there peeps! I have had a really tough time trying to figure out what kind of job Hiei could work at... It was really HARD, being as how I'm not one to plan ahead for anything. But, I figured it out!! Just right now, staring at the empty computer screen. Be prepared for this, people. Have a fresh glass of Mountain Dew at hand, but make sure it isn't flat, 'cause then you won't enjoy the chapter. Don't even THINK about Mountain Dew being the most likely soda to rot your teeth. Also, whip out a bag of Cheetos, and then imagine sitting in the dark with only the glow of the computer. Then you'll be me! ^.^ Though I don't know how many people WANT to do that...huh. Gets me thinking...okay, I'm done now.  
  
People ask me why I spell okay instead of ok. Because I know how to SPELL, people! O.o Oooookaaaaaay...  
  
On with the fic?  
  
On with the fic!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~A Red Rose in the Darkness~  
Chapter Twenty(WOOO!!)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Hiei, for once, stood on the doorstep and knocked. Shizuru opened it, with a wailing Rei in hand.  
  
"Oh, thank God it's you. Here, you can help me," she said, very dominantly, practically throwing Rei at him.  
  
In the fire demon's arms, Rei stopped crying. He had gotten much bigger. And he had teeth, something to be very proud of when he was older. Rei was roughly eight months old now. Hiei was surprised how fast he was growing. Some demon genes in him from his father, it seemed. He was talking much more than other eight month olds, and growing faster, teeth included.  
  
"Unca Hiei!" He cried, throwing his arms around Hiei's neck.  
  
"Well?" Shizuru called from the kitchen. "Come in! Don't let the cold in."  
  
Hiei kicked off his shoes and closed the door behind him, moving.  
  
Rei nuzzled into his arms, grasping the familiar warmth of his "uncle".  
  
Shizuru came out with a diaper, wet wipes, powder, and a plastic bag. She threw them at Hiei and plopped down on the couch, putting a hand to her head and clicking on the TV. "Your turn."  
  
"My turn...?" Hiei asked, staring at the materials at his feet. "What do I do?"  
  
She stared at him for a second. "You're so naìve. You have to change his diaper."  
  
Hiei blinked. He saw this one TV once. But that means...  
  
"You're kidding, right?"  
  
She shook her head and returned her lazy gaze back at the television, where martial artists were having a big bloody tournament. Literally. Rei pointed at the man currently shown bloodied on the ground and laughed. Hiei blinked. Just like Urameshi.  
  
Shizuru instructed Hiei on how to change a diaper on a little boy step-by-step, with a few interruptions of outbursts of laughter at the supreme violence, with Rei's child-like laughter following hers. Surprisingly, unlike other children his age, and his father, Rei was not at all loud in anything he did. Even when he cried his eyes out, he did it much quieter than others. Maybe he'd get his quiet calmness from Hiei.  
  
Though Hiei didn't want this unstained child to be anything like him.  
  
But he didn't want him to be like Urameshi or Kuwabara either. (A/N: ^.^;;)  
  
When Hiei was done, he was surprised how easy it was, though it would have been easier had Rei been a girl. (A/N: ^.^;; again) He then took the now-clean child into the kitchen.  
  
"Ba-ba!" Rei said.  
  
"Ba...ba?" Hiei asked. "What's a ba-ba?"  
  
As if he understood, Rei pointed to the empty bottle that stood by the refrigerator on the counter.  
  
"Oh, bottle?"  
  
Rei grinned.  
  
"All right. How do I make this, do you know?" Hiei asked.  
  
Rei pointed to a cabinet. Hiei flitzed over to it, with Rei squealing at the fun of teleportation, and opened it. Rei reached his tiny child hands into the cupboard and pulled out the pound of weight that was the can of formula. Hiei blinked in confusion. Were ningen eight-month olds supposed to be able to lift that much weight? Rei was just starting to learn to walk, how could he lift that?  
  
"Oh yeah, he's really strong too. Just like his father," Shizuru said, leaning against the door frame. "You know, Hiei, you're a quick learner, right? You see something once, you suddenly know how to do it, right?"  
  
"I wouldn't give it that much pride," Hiei said, mixing the formula as the Rei made a spinning motion with his fingers to signify it for him.  
  
"You were just taught how to make baby formula by an eight-month-old."  
  
Hiei shrugged. "In my world, eight-month-old demons could become a great enemy to myself."  
  
"Yes, well, Rei's got some demon blood in him. Like father, like son."  
  
Hiei smirked.  
  
"Hey Spikey, you could become a babysitter."  
  
The fire demon entitled Spikey looked at her. He blinked. "Why would I want to sit on babies?"  
  
She rolled her eyes. "You're kidding me! You're almost as daft as my brother."  
  
The temperature in the room grew considerably. "Do not put me into comparison with that oaf."  
  
"You did catch the 'almost', right?" She said, brushing her hair back with her long, slender fingers. "Anyway, a babysitter is someone who gets paid to watch children of any age."  
  
"Paid...which means I could..." Hiei thought for a while, passing the bottle to Rei, who graciously began to down it like Atsuko and her beer.  
  
"Means you could what?"  
  
Hiei shook out of his thought. "Where can I get this kind of job?"  
  
"Be warned, Hiei, it's nothing like you've ever worked on. These aren't nasty evil demons that will eat you if you don't kill them first."  
  
"You are right," Hiei said. "They're worse."  
  
Shizuru smirked at that. "True..."  
  
"I can handle it."  
  
"Don't get overconfident."  
  
"I'm no fool."  
  
"Not like that idiot brother of mine?"  
  
"Exactly."  
  
Shizuru shrugged and went into the living room to continue watching the martial artists' tournament.  
  
Hiei turned his gaze to the child who sat upon the counter. Rei cocked his head to the side, as if to say "Well?".  
  
"It has been decided, young one."  
  
Rei smiled as formula dripped down his chin.  
  
"I shall do this 'babysitting' to help Kurama."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Hieica: Woot! Sorry guys, I know it's two days late, and I know I haven't updated in a really really super-long time. But I'm gonna start getting on track again, I promise. The entire series of Fushigi Yuugi was so distracting, though. *wails* CHIRIKO!!  
  
*clears throat*  
  
Anyway, it wasn't only Fushigi Yuugi, it was Final Fantasy X-2, you know, super slut-slut heaven. It was also website stuff, like the designing and the evil stuff like that. I found out I was in the cool Google Search Engine. If you type in "Hieica", some stuff comes up about me. Like my manga site thing that I can't update because I don't have a scanner and I've cut all ties with Link and lie! *pauses for some breath* BUT, life goes on.  
  
HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY, ~A.R.R.I.T.D.~!!!! YOU TURN A YEAR! YOU ROCK!  
  
Swissy: Review, before it's too late. I'll sick the random bystander on you, AND I'll sick Koyasu Takehito on you too! Beware the deep voice that will make you melt! *whoops, sorry, that was Hieica pretending to be Swissy*  
  
The REAL Swissy: REVIEW DAMMIT! *gnaws on your leg* 


	21. Weird Eyes

Authoress' Notes: All right, all right people! I know I've been slacking. You know I've been slacking. Ciu-koi REALLY knows I have been slacking. Save me from Culinary's cheese grater!! (if it hasn't got rusty or something from age since it was last used. Do cheese graters get rusty?) *shrugs*  
  
Ciu-koi, I'll try not to pretend to be Swissy. Note: TRY. ^.^;;  
  
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, I have to make up my slack-i-ness to you guys. Feel free to threaten all you like! ^.^ (inner Hieica: HELP!)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~A Red Rose in the Darkness~  
Chapter Twenty-one (Holy schpit!)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
An unbelievably large house stood before him. He blinked and crimson eyes searched the layout carefully, not leaving out one vague detail. He had changed his normal attire of black, black, and black to a pair of Kurama's old, faded jeans and a black long sleeve shirt. He would have worn a black tank, but it was in the dirty laundry, and as Kurama always says, "First impressions don't need to include smelly clothes and unwashed hair". Okay, so maybe he didn't ALWAYS say that, but he has said it a couple of times.  
  
Hiei shoved the slip of paper that had the address down into his pocket, stepping up to the facy gate that blocked his access. The people he had called must have had a lot of money. Good. The more for his fox, the better. Leaving his thoughts, he stared at the obstacle before him. The fire demon contemplated burning it or hopping over it when a particularly snooty man emerged from the side.  
  
"Yessir?" The guard said.  
  
Hiei blinked. "I'm the babysitter."  
  
The guard eyes him. He looked from the boots, to the jeans, to the overly large shirt, and finally, came to rest upon Hiei's hair. Hiei wanted to punch him in the face.  
  
"What is the password?" The guard asked after a second.  
  
Hiei remembered this. He had had a long, grueling conversation with the equally snooty father of the child he was supposed to look after. The man repeated the password 106 times. Hiei knew, he counted.  
  
"Strawberry shortcake," He said.  
  
Then the snooty man smiled and opened the gates. "Welcome! Would you like a ride to the mansion?"  
  
Hiei shook his head. "I can manage."  
  
He started up the long drive. The guard stared after him for a while, and then turned. As soon as he was no longer in the man's gaze, he suddenly appeared on the front steps, in front of the large double doors. He looked over his shoulder, down the stairs. There was thirty-six steps in all, parting in the middle around a decorative water fountain with a mermaid propped on top, water flowing steadilly out of a giant shell she held in her hands.  
  
Hiei turned to the doors once more, this time taking in their beauty as well. They were painted ivory, with a golden doorknob and gold lining around every indent. They came together to form the design of a phoenix, each doorknocker, gold as well, was decorated with a tiny, beautiful outlining of a snake winding around them. Hiei marveled at their beauty, but couldn't help but sense distaste inside himself. It was too fancy for him.  
  
He reached a hand out and stood on his toes, tapping the doorknocker against the door.  
  
Within seconds the door was opened by yet another fancy guy, only this guy was strictly a doorman, not a snooty guard.  
  
Behind the doorman were stairs, large, elegant stairs leading up the high marble walls to a large upstairs world unknown. Decorating the main entrance were large tapestries hung from the ceiling, a giant chandelier, and many well-taken care of plants. Hiei slipped off his boots and entered, his feet first meeting cold marble. Then, his feet sank into the soft, brown fur of a bear rug.  
  
Turning his head from side to side, he looked around. There was just so much to look at in here. He couldn't even imagine the rest of the house. The doorman waited patiently for Hiei to stop staring and led him into the living room.  
  
Thus there was more to gape at. Hiei swore the living room was the size of Shiori's house. The walls were more lively than the entrance room, with paintings, more tapestries, those wall quilt things. There were huge windows with heavy velvet drapes, and the carpet between his toes was the same color as the drapes, plus it was extremely soft to step upon. The couch itself was also velvety, and upon it sat a young woman. She wore a beautiful light blue gown, as if she was going to a fancy party. She probably was.  
  
She turned her head to look at Hiei. She started from his bare feet, to his faded jeans, the black over-sized shirt, his eyes, and she finally rest her eyes upon his hair.  
  
She smiled. "I like you already!"  
  
Hiei blinked. She wouldn't disapprove of him? Strange.  
  
A strict looking man emerged from an entrance of what looked like a kitchen holding a little girl. She had her blonde hair up in two ponytails, one on each side of her head. She wore an adorable pink dress that even matched her socks. She looked at Hiei and smiled.  
  
The fire demon blinked for the umpteenth time this chapter.  
  
She wriggled out of her father's arms and walked up to him. He stared down, for once, upon her. She stared up at him.  
  
"Your eyes are weird," she said after a while.  
  
Hiei's right arm twitched and the temperature slightly grew. The bandages on his arm began to smoke, but the smoke luckilly faded before it came out of his shirt.  
  
"Now, now. Be nice. His eyes are cool!" The mom said.  
  
The father glared at Hiei. "You better treat her like a princess. Take care of her, and do not take your eyes off of her."  
  
Yeah, all three of them, Hiei thought sarcastically.  
  
"Not even for one moment. If so, you will once again be unemployed, and everybody knows what happens to poor men."  
  
The temperature grew considerably more. The mother arched a brow. "Is something wrong with the heat?"  
  
Hiei held in a smirk. "I won't let her out of my sight."  
  
As in, she could be on the other side of the mansion and all Hiei would have to do is look through the walls with the Jagan.  
  
"Also, take off the bandana. It's ridiculous," the father said nastilly, and left the room.  
  
The mother waved her hand at him. "Don't worry about it, it's not too tacky. Anyway, catch you later!"  
  
She winked and pranced through the opening. Hiei stared as the father popped his head through the entrance doors. "Your eyes aren't on her!!"  
  
Hiei blinked and the doors closed. He then turned his head to face her. She stared up at him. He stared back.  
  
Her brow became furrowed. "Your eyes are still weird."  
  
That's it. I should have taken that mailman job, Hiei thought to himself.  
  
"What's your name?" She asked him.  
  
He knelt down. "Hiei," he said simply.  
  
"Oh, like the mountain?"  
  
Mountain? "I guess."  
  
She plopped down on the couch and motioned for him to sit next to her.  
  
Hiei wondered what the little devil was planning to do. Alas, as a well-paid babysitter, he must listen to her and treat her like a princess. He was determined not to let her get to him.  
  
"How old are you?" She asked after a while.  
  
"Around four hundred."  
  
"Right, and I'm a boy," she said.  
  
"Then what's your name, little boy?"  
  
"It happens to be Hime."  
  
How typical. The parents had decided from the beginning she was good enough to be a princess, therefore naming her Princess. Very original. Hiei predicted that she would be a spoiled rotten brat who would want everything to go her way. He also predicted the threats she would give him if she didn't get what she wanted.  
  
Damn. This job is gonna suck.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Hieica: *is suddenly revived* Sorry!! Sorry sorry sorry for being so crappy at updating.  
  
I'd like to thank all my faithful reviewers. After this chapter, we might have 200 reviews! And I don't care if you think I'm tacky for caring about my reviews. I think they rock! I think all of you guys rock!  
  
Now I'd like to thank my beautiful koibito, Ciu Sune. It was Ciu-koi's idea to make Hiei twitch in anger, and she also wanted him to be a mailman. ^.^;; That's where the mailman line came from. ^.~ Thanks Ciu-koi!!  
  
Swissy: REVIEW! GRRRRRRRRR!!! (H: Ciu-koi, remember the "grrrr" contests? ^.~) Review or I'll decapitate you and prop your head up on a stick!! LIKE A CARAMEL APPLE!!!  
  
Hieica: ^.^;;;;;;;;; ---Many sweatdrops. 


	22. Flitz!

Authoress' Notes: Yup, twenty-second chapter. That's currently where we are right now. ^.^ Some people say that Hime doesn't seem too bad. Which may be a good thing for Hiei, though he does constantly expect bad things from her because she is, after all, a human child. And we all know how Hiei detests humans. ^.^  
  
Did you ever notice that Jin and Shishi never finished telling how they got together before they left? That was my mistake, so I have to fix it in one of the next chapters, because I'm sure you people don't really want to go back and read it over again. Sorry about that, guys. ^.^;;  
  
So, onto chapter twenty-two!!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~A Red Rose in the Darkness~  
Chapter Twenty-two  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Kurama turned the key in the lock after knocking for a few seconds. He figured Hiei was sleeping or something and didn't hear the knocks. The fox yawned, slipping off his shoes and closing the door behind him. In all honesty, he looked like crap. He was so tired because he went to school, then went to work, and then came home to cook dinner and do his homework. Let's not even try the days where he has to go shopping as well. And now he had to work over the weekends, as well. He was glad he had today off of work, and he had stayed after school to finish his homework early.  
  
He dropped his bag by the door and went into the kitchen, to find a sloppily written note on the kitchen table.  
  
  
  
  
  
Kitsune, I'm off somewhere right now. Do not worry, for I will be back. Take this time to get some rest. You really need it.  
  
Koi shiteru,  
Hiei  
  
  
  
  
  
Kurama looked at the note and smiled, bringing his hand to his mouth and yawning again. He put it in his pocket for treasured keeping - it was rare to find Hiei signing "I love you" and then his name after it, so Kurama would keep it and bring it up in case he ever needed to blackmail Hiei.  
  
He slipped out of his windbreaker and looked around, after un-Kurama-like tossing it on the table. He himself trudged into the living room and plopped down on the couch, grabbing a throwpillow and instantly falling asleep.  
  
Meanwhile, little miss princess Hime was giving little mister Hiei a tour. It's been going on for forty-five minutes now. She was actually quite intelligent for her seven years of age, and you would actually think her to be a small eleven year old if you hadn't known any better.  
  
She showed him the bathrooms, all six of them, which were pearly white and sparkling clean. She showed him the door to her parent's rooms, she even showed him the family portrait room. Finally, she brought him to her own room. As soon as she opened the door, Hiei wanted to turn away.  
  
Everything in her room was pink, pink, with a dash of pink. Hiei found he couldn't stand it. He wouldn't have minded white, but this was too much. Pink pillow cases, pink comforter, light pink sheets, pink walls, pink lamp shade? Even all of her stuffed animals were pink. Her wardrobe, which was light pink, was opened, and almost every article of clothing was pink. Hiei started to get a headache from looking at all the pink.  
  
Hiei looked around, and spotted one thing that wasn't pink. Walking across the pink room, his feet sinking into the pink carpet, he reached the small item on her light pink desk.  
  
It was a necklace. A simple silver-chained necklace with a small sapphire dangling from the end. He picked it up in his bandaged hand.  
  
"Hey! Don't touch that! It's very important to me!" She shouted.  
  
He allowed her to swipe it out of his hand. He could understand that.  
  
"...where...did you get it from?" He asked hesitantly.  
  
She looked at him. "My older brother gave it to me before he...left us."  
  
Hiei looked at her again, seeing the bratty face, but he looked beyond that. Hime wasn't a brat.  
  
She was exactly like him.  
  
He pulled his own necklace from inside of his shirt, and knelt down to meet her at eye-level. She looked at it.  
  
"I have a necklace that someone important gave to me as well."  
  
She looked at him. "Well, isn't that a coincidence?"  
  
He smirked. "Yes, it is. Listen...do you want some ice cream?"  
  
"We're not supposed to leave the house."  
  
"Nobody will know. We'll just go to the park, get some sort of snack, and be back in ten minutes. All right?"  
  
She nodded and was about to place her necklace back on the desk, but she stopped for a second, and put it on over her head so that it dangled at her neck. Then she slipped her hand into Hiei's.  
  
"I want you to hang onto my hand. Do not let go, okay?"  
  
She nodded. Hiei made sure the door was closed, and he opened the window.  
  
"We're gonna jump out the window?" She asked him.  
  
"Don't worry," he said, with a slight smirk. "I can fly."  
  
There was a 'flitz' sound effect, and the two disappeared.  
  
Seconds later, they reached the park. She looked around her in awe. "Wow!! You really can fly!!"  
  
Not quite, but it was close enough. "You can't tell anyone about this, though. All right? Otherwise, I won't be able to do it again, okay?"  
  
She nodded, with a big smile on her face. "That was so much fun!"  
  
"We'll do it again after ice cream."  
  
"YAY!!"  
  
Hiei began walking, her hand still in his, with a small smile on his face. It seems she isn't that bad after all.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The fire demon fit the key in the lock and turned the doorknob, walking inside to dark. He scanned the room with his Jagan, finding Kurama's form, sprawled out, though quite gracefully, over the couch. He draped a blanket over his fox. Then the phone began to shrill loudly. Hiei picked it up before the ring could even finish.  
  
"Um...hello?" He greeted, a little quietly.  
  
"Hey! Is this Hiei!?"  
  
Hiei sighed. It was Hime's mother. "Yes," he confirmed, while tossing the money he earned that night carelessly onto the counter, where Kurama would find it in the morning.  
  
"I just want to say thank you! I've never seen Hime so cheerful! Can you come tomorrow at noon? We have another party thing to attend."  
  
"Sure..." he said, rubbing his eyes.  
  
"Cool!" Did she just say cool? "Oh, Hime wants to go to the park tomorrow, so could you take her there?"  
  
Inside, he was smiling. "Of course."  
  
"Thanks, Hiei. You rock!" She said, wishing him a good night and hanging up.  
  
He hung up in the darkness, sighing and plopping into his armchair, staring at his fox through the dark, listening to the almost inaudible rythm of his breathing. It was all for him. Everything Hiei did, was to help or protect Kurama in any way. He was beginning to wonder if he was becoming weak.  
  
Hiei's eyes closed, save for the Jagan, and he almost instantly fell asleep.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Hieica: *rubs hands together gleefully* Next chapter, Hiei is going to see someone in the park. Who, you ask? MWAHAHAHAHA, you'll just have to wait! ^.^;; I'm so evil sometimes. ^.^  
  
Also, guess what!? 200+ reviews! Isn't that beautiful!? I love you guys!! *huggles and squeezes all air from reviewers* ^.^;; So, I want to thank you all for 20+ reviews, and I don't care if some of you think I'm tacky for this. ^.^;;  
  
Hit it, Swissy!  
  
Swissy: MWAHAHAHAHA!! Now I have sharp and pointy objects to threaten you with!! *grins malevolently* MWAHAHAHAHAHA!! *whips out a plastic spork* It is pointy! BLEEEH! Therefore, you'd better review! YEAH, or I'll stab you with it, and if it breaks, I have spares!! *behind him is 500 boxes of plastic sporks* MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHahahaha... *gasps for air* 


	23. TackleHugs

Authoress' Notes: Hey guys...Guys? -looks around as a tumbleweed rolls by- Um... I'm sorry. Will you still read it? Eventually? In a million years? Really, I've been having the worst case of Writer's Block for this. I've never had Writer's Block this bad before. I've asked Ciu-koi for help, too, but nothing works very well...  
  
If this seems a little disappointing, I'm sorry.  
  
I think I might end up ending this soon... I don't know where it goes from here... It won't end now, though, of course.  
  
---------------------------------------------------  
  
---------------------------------------------------  
  
A Red Rose in the Darkness  
  
Chapter Twenty-three  
  
---------------------------------------------------  
  
---------------------------------------------------  
  
The door opened.  
  
"HIEEEEEEIIIIII!!!!"  
  
Hiei was greeted by falling flat on his butt when Hime tackle-hugged him. "Hello Hime..."  
  
"Hiei, Hiei!! Are we going to the park!?" She asked cheerfully.  
  
He allowed himself to give a small smile and nodded.  
  
"YAAAAY!!" She cheered and tumbled off of him.  
  
He stood and offered her a hand, which she took with a huge grin and jumped to her feet. Hand in hand, they entered the mansion, with the extremely patient doorman closing it behind them. Hiei kicked off his shoes and they walked into the living room.  
  
"HIEI!!" The mom shrieked and threw her arms around his neck, catching him by surprise. "Hime told us what a great babysitter you were!! MAN, I wish my old babysitter was like you!"  
  
That's great lady, but can you let go of me now? Only my kitsune can hold me like this, Hiei thought to himself.  
  
She didn't let go until the husband entered the room. He shot a glare Hiei's way. "So, you got away with the first one, but today you won't be so lucky!!"  
  
Hiei sighed inwardly. This family was seriously freaky. An uptight half-insane husband, an over-cheerful mother who likes to, as she would put it "PAR-TAY!!", and a mature daughter who was quite like Hiei.  
  
It was then Hiei noticed that Hime, once again, wore the necklace from her brother. He was aware of his own, dangling from his neck, tucked safely under his shirt. Hime tugged his hand. "Can we go now??"  
  
Hiei blinked away his thoughts. "That is up to your--"  
  
"OF COURSE!! Wouldn't wanna delay my daughter's Lovely, Royal Park Tour Fit For A Princess!" The mom said with this humungous laughing grin.  
  
Hiei's eye twitched. Did she have to give a trip to the park a title? Well, if she was the kind of character Hiei had of her in his mind, then yeah, she did.  
  
"YAY!! Let's go!!" Hime said happily.  
  
"Now now, Hime. You have to listen to Hiei, okee?" The mom said, sternly but cheerfully. "And you can't run away from him or anything, because then you won't get any ice cream!!"  
  
Everyone in the room, save for Hiei, gasped in utter terror.  
  
Hime looked at her feet. "Yes mommy..."  
  
Sadly enough, Hiei understood why terror would come from having a lack of sweet snow.  
  
Hime took Hiei's hand and dragged him to the door. "Bye mommy, bye daddy!"  
  
The father grunted and the mother waved enthusiastically.  
  
The door closed behind them once again.  
  
"Hiei, Hiei!! FLY!!" She said.  
  
"I will," he said. "After we are out of sight of your home, all right?"  
  
She huffed, but nodded in agreement.  
  
They left the gates and began walking down the sidewalk.  
  
"Now?" Hime asked.  
  
"No..." Hiei said.  
  
They turned the corner.  
  
"Now." And they were gone.  
  
---------------------------------------------------  
  
Hime licked the top off of her ice cream cone. Hiei did the same.  
  
They were sitting on a bench under a tree that the fire demon liked to hang out in when he had nothing to do. Hime was silent while licking her ice cream ever-so-gracefully, like a rich child would.  
  
"Hiei?" Hiei was just licking the ice cream residue off of his fingers when he heard his name.  
  
He turned his head and his eyes grew wide.  
  
Shiori smiled. "I would recognise that hair anywhere..."  
  
"Shiori..."  
  
She walked over and stood in front of Hime. "And who is this?"  
  
Hiei recovered from his shock in an instant. "This is--"  
  
"I'm Hime!!" She announced. "Hiei is babysitting me!"  
  
"Really...?" Shiori looked him over. "I never imagined you as the type to babysit, Hiei."  
  
"Yes, well, you have missed a lot..."  
  
---------------------------------------------------  
  
Sniper and Touya lay on the human's bed, Touya on Sniper's lap. Hagiri's back was leaning against the headboard and his arms were wrapped around the ice prince on his lap. He rest his chin on Touya's head and they cuddled in silence.  
  
It was that sort of peaceful silence where words are not needed and there can never be anything important enough to talk about.  
  
A silence that would always be broken too soon.  
  
"TOOOOOOOOOOOY!!!!!"  
  
Both Sniper and Touya jumped, causing Touya to fall off the bed and Hagiri to tumble to the floor entangled in the blankets.  
  
"Oh...heh...I'm thinkin' I disturbed somethin' here..." Jin said, rubbing the back of his head.  
  
"No...you think?" Sniper said sarcastically, trying to disentangle himself.  
  
Touya shot him a look and stood up, facing Jin. "Jin, you simply had poorly placed timing."  
  
"I like how you changed 'you interrupted our personal moment, you idiotic moron' to something a little more polite."  
  
Shishiwakamaru popped out from behind Jin, leaning against the doorframe, his look of "DAMN I am so much hotter than you" shining brilliantly through his eyes and his smile.  
  
Touya gave him "the look". "Shishiwakamaru, as narcissistic as ever, ne?"  
  
The narcissist in question winked. "You bet."  
  
"Well, I would greatly appreciate it if you did not address Jin as 'idiotic moron'. He is after all, smarter than you could even hope to be."  
  
Shishi glared for a moment, but then smirked. "So what does that make you, a --"  
  
Jin floated in between them. "Heh, why don't we knock this off, 'kay? We came to visit!! Now, le's all gather 'round and tell each othe' what's been 'appenin', 'kay?"  
  
Touya paused a moment and then nodded. Shishi faintly whispered under his breath a comment that sounded suspiciously like "Wuss" but also agreed.  
  
---------------------------------------------------  
  
Jin rolled through the air laughing hysterically behind Shishi's chair. Shishi just shook his glass at Touya. "So it's true? That midget actually got a job? As a babysitter, nonetheless? Man, wait 'til everyone in the Makai hears about this..."  
  
"I'll be waiting," Touya said. "Because everyone in Makai will hear nothing of this."  
  
Shishiwakamaru arched a brow. Jin paused in his laughter. "I gotta agree wit' Toy on this one. Hiei's reputation will go BOOM! to the ground if they all foun' out, and more o' them slimy demons will be after him thinkin' he's weak...an' he doesn' need tha'..."  
  
Touya simply nodded. Hagiri knew he had nothing to do with this conversation but still decided to stick around if Shishiwakamaru and Touya got into a fistfight, more than likely consisting of Touya getting Shishi so ticked off that Shishi attacks him.  
  
"He pro'lly got that job to help Kurama, after all the hell that they 'ave been through."  
  
Shishiwakamaru snorted. "He's getting soft. If I were him, I wouldn't let myself be tied down by another soft demon. Humans suck, and I sure as hell wouldn't want to live in a world with them."  
  
Touya stared at his hands. "Not all humans are bad..."  
  
Sniper gave a tiny smile.  
  
Shishi just waved his hand at Touya's "foolishness" and dismissed the subject with a yawn.  
  
He looked at Sniper's clock. "Man, is it late!! I need to get my beauty sleep!!"  
  
With that he stood, walked to Sniper's bedroom and called good night.  
  
"Oh, wait a minute--!!" Sniper was about to finish but was cut off by the slamming of the door.  
  
Touya and Sniper stared at the door for a moment.  
  
Sniper blinked. "Oh, he did not just..."  
  
Touya stared. "He did."  
  
---------------------------------------------------  
  
Hieica: Wow. The ending to this chapter sucked. Who's with me!? ...yeah, thought so...anyway, SQUEEEEEEEEEE!! Cuddle scene cuddle scene!! I'm so mean sometimes. But really, I think this is going to end soon, in a few chapters. I just have to explain some more stuff and we're on our way. I have the ending line prepared and everything.  
  
Here, I have something for your amusement. Y'see, I asked Ciu Sune for help on this, because my Writer's Block is getting ridiculous. And after several hours of frying our brains, this was our solution:  
  
---------------------------------------------------  
  
Hieica: Uh...what would Snipey and Toy being doing or talking about or both?  
  
Ciu Sune: Um...  
  
Ciu Sune: Sniper could be....uh....painting!  
  
Ciu Sune: Yes! He would be painting!  
  
Hieica: O.o  
  
Hieica: Sniper...paints?  
  
Ciu Sune: --;; I'm not good at this!  
  
Hieica: What, he paints a picture of Reisho and shoots dice at it?  
  
Ciu Sune: Erm, no?  
  
Hieica: I would.  
  
Ciu Sune: XD What if he was painting Touya?  
  
Hieica: Naked?  
  
Ciu Sune: Then they could talk too.  
  
Ciu Sune: What??  
  
Hieica: KIDDING!!  
  
Ciu Sune: ....O.o  
  
Hieica: Sheesh.  
  
Ciu Sune: ;; our convos are so--  
  
Ciu Sune: so...  
  
Ciu Sune: Hrm.  
  
Hieica: Weird?  
  
Hieica: Life-scarring?  
  
Hieica: Earth-shattering?  
  
Ciu Sune: Yeah, well, what do you think of the first part of the idea?  
  
Hieica: The painting?  
  
Ciu Sune: of Touya? (with clothes on!)  
  
Hieica: Sniper doesn't seem like one that would paint.  
  
Hieica: .;;  
  
Ciu Sune: wails I'm bad at this!!  
  
ciu Sune: Have them play parcheesi.  
  
Hieica: Could they just be cuddling, sitting on Snipey's bed and talking?  
  
Hieica: I don't even know what parcheesi is!  
  
Ciu Sune: Sure! I like teh cuddle.  
  
Ciu Sune: nevermind about the parcheesi.....  
  
---------------------------------------------------  
  
I'm telling you, it was brilliant.  
  
Swissy: ...I hate you... 


	24. My Hikari

Authoress' Notes: Hiya guys. Once again back here trying to fix this story. I really screwed myself over. But I want to finish this fic by it's birthday, February 26. Two years is a long enough time to be writing a ficcie, don't you think?But it's obvious I've been slipping. Twenty chapters of this last year. Four this year. O.o I suck. 

God, I love Pierrot. (That was awfully random)

I'm writing this before my "writing mood" fades away. I started typing this the same night I released Snowdrops, so... I'm trying here! . High school and websites make me so busy!!

Sorry guys, but here it is, the twenty-fourth chapter of A Red Rose in the Darkness.

Enjoy.

* * *

**A Red Rose in the Darkness**

_Chapter Twenty-Four  
_

* * *

_"Yes, well, you have missed a lot..."_

Hiei returned home that day earlier than usual, with Shiori trailing behind him. He opened the apartment door and invited her into their house. Kicking off his muddy boots, he searched the apartment for Kurama's ki, but he wasn't home. Shiori would either have to wait or go home and return later.

Of course, if she left, she may very well miss her chance at ever seeing her son again.

He entered the living room, the human mother following behind him.

"Feel free to make yourself comfortable until... Shuiichi comes home. It shouldn't be too long..." He said, waving his arm lazily about the room. "Would you like something to eat or drink?"

She shook her head and he entered the kitchen, grabbing himself a miniature carton of ice cream and, licking the spoon, called out to his fox using his Jagan.

_Kitsune..._ he thought loudly. _You have a surprise of sorts for when you return. Come swiftly and prepare yourself._

The fox, all the way at his school, silently nodded to himself. What sort of surprise could there be? Were Touya and Sniper visiting, or maybe Jin and Shishiwakamaru were there? But a feeling in the pit of his stomach told him it wasn't so. There was something else, something uncomfortable. He hoped his intuition betrayed him today. He didn't need any more stress than what he already had.

But it just wasn't meant to be.

He opened his door and took off his shoes, setting them down next to...

His eyes widened.

Dropping his bag in front of the door, he swiftly walked into the living room, where he saw the proof to his nagging suspicions.

His mother turned her head to face him and he was at a loss for words. His ningen mother... was really there...

Tears welled up in his eyes, hers as well, and he ran, she stood, and they met halfway in an embrace.

Hiei chose this moment, this heartwarming time, to return to the kitchen to get his third batch of ice cream. Kami that stuff is sweet.

--------------------------

Hagiri pulled out the key to unlock his bedroom door. He inserted it into the lock and turned it, until you heard a click. The door swung open.

Shishiwakamaru was gracefully sprawled out on the comforter of the bed, already asleep.

"Demons don't normally get this sort of sleep and comfort, do they?" Sniper asked his lover.

Touya shook his head and motioned for Jin to get in there. The wind master floated in and placed himself on the bed next to his sleeping narcissist. Brushing the blue strands from Shishi's face, he mouthed "Gomen..." to Touya, who simply nodded and closed the door.

"Well, Hagiri..."

Sniper looked at Touya, who in turn met his violet eyes. "Yes...?"

"It seems we get the couch tonight."

"It seems so."

They weren't really upset by it, of course. More cuddle-time for them, so everything was fine. Besides, it's better if that narcissistic freak was asleep and away from them. He was quieter in his sleep, after all.

Touya held out a hand, and smiling, Hagiri accepted it. Touya returned the warm smile.

Sniper led Touya by the hand to the couch, sitting and proceding to pulling the ice demon down onto his lap. The cool air was inviting and Hagiri never wanted to let it go, never wanted it to slip through his fingers.

"Touya...?" Hagiri asked, resting his chin upon the top of the ice demon's head.

"Yes...?" Came the hushed reply.

"Are you happy here?"

"The only place I wish to be is in your arms, encompassed in your light," was the truthful answer.

Hagiri smiled. "Yes... but I mean here... in this world..."

"Of course I am... you are the most important aspect of my life, therefore I will sacrifise any and everything to be held in your embrace once more."

"Don't you miss your own world?" Sniper asked. "At all?"

Touya sighed. "Sometimes yes. I often find myself thinking of how weak in strength I am becoming... but my battles are a thing of my past now... the only future I see lying ahead of me is spent with you... in peace, no bloodshed. Just peaceful bliss."

Sniper smiled wryly. One thought he had kept in the back of his mind was now breaking the surface. "But what will you do... as I grow old and grey whilst you stay, neverchanging, living on forever...?"

The ice demon pulled away, and Sniper knew instantly he had said the wrong thing.

Touya, now standing upright, had known of that, but he foolishly kept it locked away in his mind. Now that it had been said, it only served to make the fact more real. And it stung so horrible, like twisting a knife through his heart.

The ice demon sighed and sat on the floor, resting his head on Sniper's lap. "We have two options... either we live your lifetime to the fullest, and as you lay on your deathbed, I die with you by convenient means and we die together, or we find some way to make you immortal..."

"We may have to journey far and wide... for long periods of time searching and gathering information. We should start planning. After all, we only have eighty years to search..."

He played with Touya's hair spikes as these bitter words were exchanged.

Yet, Touya felt relieved. "Yes... what has to be done is to be done without question."

"We'll figure it out, one way or another."

"If it is our path to die, then we will leave with no regrets. You will remain beautiful even as your body withers away... I will make sure of that. We will stay together... I will remain by your side...

"Forever..."

Sniper smiled and arched his back so his face neared Touya's. "Forever is an awfully long time, ne?"

Touya's gaze softened as he stared into those brilliant violet eyes. "All the time in the worlds... my hikari..."

* * *

Hieica: Wow. It sucked. Yet my writing mood hasn't disappeared yet. What is going on? Maybe, just maybe, is my Writer's Block gone?

Oh, yeah, I made Touya call Sniper his hikari. .;; I know, it's sappy crap, and Touya's always been searching for his light, right? So look, it fits. .

I do bring up a good point with the age thing though, ne?

This chapter was considerably short, sorry, and it sucked. I think the next chapter may be the last. (You guys: It's about time!) I managed to make this chapter more about Touya and Sniper again, somewhat like chapter seventeen, or "The Random Chapter in which Hiei and Kurama Are Nonexistent". That was a fun chapter. O.o

Swissy: Review or I shall painfully sever your head. Yay! Blood and gore and all that other good stuff.

Hieica: You're awfully mean Swissy.

Swissy: I pride myself for it.

Hieica: ... you would.


	25. Owari

Authoress' Notes: You know, ever since this break started, I read a really really good fanfiction and decided to update mine a little, but it's kind of weird that "a little" is going as far as six new chapters/stories in four days, as my Ciu-koi wonderfully pointed out. Some of them aren't even half bad, like Narcissism, which I surprisingly somewhat liked and even more surprisingly, want to update soon. O.o My Furuba fic was a little weird though. Ah well, what can we do? That's right, absolutely nothing. Mwahahahahaha... 

Here is the wonderfully crappy twenty-fifth chapter of A Red Rose in the Darkness!!!

Sadly, it is the last chapter of the actual ARRitD storyline... -cries-

WOOOOO it's gonna be crap. Like, super crap-crap. Like burnt poo on a stick. Huzzah.

* * *

**A Red Rose in the Darkness**

_Chapter Twenty-Five_

* * *

Shuiichi heard the sound of a car pulling up in their driveway. He looked up from the video game he was playing and out the window, seeing his mother's car door opening. She was talking to someone who was sitting in the front seat. His eyes widened and he grinned as he saw his brother step out of the passenger's side. He ran down the stairs, threw open the front door and jumped into Kurama's open arms.

"'Niichan!!" He said, hugging the surprised fox.

Kurama smiled, squeezing him back. "Long time no see, ne 'niichan?"

Hiei quietly stepped out of the backseat of the car, staring for a moment at the little child in Kurama's arm. Shuiichi caught his gaze and wriggled out of Kurama's grasp, running up and grabbing Hiei around his waist, burying his face in the demon's cloak. Hiei's eyes widened at this, unsure of what to do. Kurama giggled at Hiei's wide eyed look, which caused a glare to be shot his way.

Hiei, Hiei, you're such a pushover, Kurama thought.

"I heard that," the fire demon growled, leading to more giggles from the kitsune.

Kurama smiled, leaning over into the backseat and grabbed a box that carried some of the few possessions from their apartment. After freeing himself from Shuiichi's deathgrip, Hiei too lifted a box and two bags from the car and followed Kurama into the house. Shiori opened the door for Kurama, so he could carry the box into his bedroom. Hiei attempted to follow, but Shiori stopped him and shook her finger.

"Ah ah ah, Hiei. You," she said and pointed to an open doorway down the hallway. "Get that room."

The demon blinked, wondering how to take this. Should he growl at her for commanding him, or be thankful that she allowed him to have a room? As he stepped into the open doorway, he instantly chose the second option.

The room had been stylishly set up according to Hiei, meaning everything was black. There was a bed, a dresser and desk, a closet and much more that would go in a bedroom. And it was all black. Hiei stood unmoving in the doorway, staring.

"Well?" Shiori asked, coming up behind him. "I personalised it for you. Obviously, you like black, so I stuck with it."

Hiei walked in, setting the box and bags down on his bed. His bed. He turned to Shiori, who was smiling at him. "I..."

"That translates as 'I'm too shocked for words but I want to thank you', 'kaasan," Kurama said, leaning on the doorframe of Hiei's new bedroom, smiling at the little fire demon.

Shiori smiled at her success and clapped her hands. "Okay, now who's ready to have lunch!?"

Shuiichi, appearing out of nowhere, made his hand fly up. "I do!!"

Kurama, smiling, rose his hand slightly, and they all looked to Hiei. Kurama gave him a look. The fire demon stared back for a while, sighed, and gave in, raising his own hand. Kurama and Shuiichi smiled and Shiori squealed in delight and hugged him. Hiei once again threw a glare at Kurama. He was doomed to live in this place, worse than the Makai, with it's hugs and it's squealing, until they both agreed it was time to leave.

Shiori led all four downstairs to eat in the kitchen. They each sat at the table, as everything was set out and they began to dig in.

"So, what have you two been up to?" Shiori asked, directed at the jaganshi and the kitsune. "The school has informed me that you, Shuiichi, have been attending school everyday, but how have you been paying for your rent?"

"Well, I've been working a lot of extra hours at the flower shop, but it's been really stressful. I kept finding envelopes of money that I don't remember putting there, so it really must have been getting to me..." He said, furrowing his brow.

Hiei didn't own up to it.

"Yes, I see Hiei had to get a job too," Shiori said.

Kurama rose his eyebrow. "Really? When did this happen?"

Hiei shrugged in response, as his mouth was full of Shiori's delightful cooking.

"What? You didn't know?" Shiori asked him. "That's how I bumped into him in the park. He was babysitting a sweet little girl... Hime, I think."

Shuiichi's eyes widened and he choked on the food in his mouth, trying to hold in his laughter. Kurama just stared in shock as Shiori ranted on about how cute the two looked eating their ice cream and things like that.

"Well..." Kurama said quietly, still in disbelief. "That explains the envelopes of money lying around. Here I thought I was going crazy."

----------

Shiori had sent Kurama, Hiei, and Shuiichi off to their own bedrooms, and Hiei watched his clock, yes, his clock, slowly drift from ten o' clock to twelve twenty-four before he sat up, fully awake, and sighed. It just felt... so unnatural. He had been laying with Kurama by his side every night since they had left Shiori's house, and now? He just couldn't fall asleep without his kitsune.

He stood up quietly and opened his door, slowly peering out to see if Shiori was up. In satisfaction, he slightly opened the door more, until the opening was big enough for him to fit through.

He tiptoed down the hallway, quietly passing by Shiori's and Shuiichi's doors with more caution so he wouldn't get caught and sent into his own room. Hiei knew that he could always open his window and sneak out, which was very tempting, but he chose to be with Kurama tonight, in this strange house.

Finally reaching Kurama's door, he lightly knocked, but instantly found it was unlocked, so he quietly opened it and stepped in.

His kitsune lay there still, half of his body underneath the covers, facing the wall. Feeling Hiei's presence behind him, he looked over his shoulder and smiled. "Come in, Hiei..."

The fire demon closed the door behind him in slight annoyance. "I was _going_ _to_ anyway."

This caused the kitsune to smile again. He sat up and held out his arms. "Come. Join me?"

Hiei snorted. "I was going to do that too."

The smaller demon walked over to Kurama's bedside and climbed in with him, settling himself down in between Kurama's arms and legs, the kitsune leaning his back against the bed board. Hiei's back was against Kurama's chest and the fox wrapped his arms around his fire demon's tiny shoulders. He peered down into Hiei's crimson eyes as the fire demon looked up at him. Kurama smiled and planted a kiss lightly on Hiei's cheek.

Things were beginning to look up. Shiori had forgiven them, they forgave her in return. As a result, Kurama moved back in with his mother and his brother. Better yet, Hiei came as well, showing Shiori's complete tolerance for the two as a couple, which further brought happiness to Kurama. And Hiei would get used to the love that Shiori would offer him, maybe he would finally have someone he could know as his motherly figure. Maybe Hiei would even get used to the hugs.

The kitsune placed his chin upon the head of the fire demon, his fire demon. He couldn't see a future that did not hold Hiei in it. There was no future for him without Hiei. He loved his fire demon, and the darkness that was Hiei. He would just find himself drowning in the warm darkness, the black vast space surrounding and encompassing him in a kind, warm embrace.

He truly was a red rose in the darkness.

_And he loved every moment of it._

-owari-

* * *

Hieica: And here I am, at the end. I'm NOT loving every minute of it, Kurama, so screw you!! T.T -sobs uncontrollably-

Swissy: This doesn't quite count as the last chapter, though. You see, it's the last chapter of the Kurama/Hiei part. The next chapter is the story of how Jin and Shishiwakamaru fell in love, because Hieica is dumb and just couldn't figure out where to place it within the story. Thus, she will type it out soon and post it as another chapter for this, though it isn't really.

Hieica: -wipes a tear away- I'd like to thank all of you guys, my lovely reviewers!! -huggles and glomps all of you before proceding to sob uncontrollably-

Swissy: You do realize you'll see them once more...?

Hieica: -ignores in her devastation-

Swissy: ... I hate you... Anyway, you guys had better review! REVIEW NOW DAMMIT before I whip out the axe!!


	26. BONUS: A Lovely Tale

Authoress' Notes: Here it is, the long-awaited tale of Jin and Shishiwakamaru's hook-up!! And the final peice for A Red Rose in the Darkness. Those reading, review please, as this will be the last time you can read new material for this fanfiction. 

-wipes tear from eye-

* * *

**A Red Rose in the Darkness**

_**BONUS**: A Lovely Tale_

* * *

_Jin sat on the cold, hard ground, his back hunched over. He would have been easy prey had he not been the hunter. A fat demon rat hobbled by him, right next to him, and Jin snatched it from the ground, immediately killing it by snapping it's neck. Painless. He returned with it back to his camp, where he heard voices. Crouching down in the bushes, he placed his lunch by his side, and used his strong hands to push the leaves from his face._

_There, he saw nothing to worry about._

_Shishiwakamaru and Suzuki(oh! Sorry, BEAUTIFUL Suzuki) both sat in front of his fire, feeding it more logs so it didn't die._

_"Think we should wait for him?" Shishiwakamaru asked._

_Suzuki, not in his clown attire, shrugged, longing for a mirror(O.o;;)._

_Grinning, Jin instinctively reached to his side, snatching up another fat rat, killing it instantly. The two wouldn't each eat their own rat, he knew. They had to watch their weight, after all, is what they would say._

_"Hey-a!!" Jin shouted to them, and Suzuki waved. "Rat?"_

_"Oh no, thanks. I have to watch my weight." As if THAT wasn't expected..._

_"Too bad, you're eating anyway."_

_It wasn't until the third night that Jin's company had spent with him did Shishiwakamaru become entranced by him. How little that he cared about his self-image. Jin piqued interest and, for once in his life, Shishi wasn't staring at himself in the mirror. Once he noticed that, he realized that it wasn't simply interest._

_It was something more. It had to be, because it would take a raging war to get Shishiwakamaru to turn from his mirror. Not understanding this feeling, the demon decided to investigate. Turning into his true form, a tiny little bird-like thing, he watched the Wind Master go about his daily business. He wouldn't consider it stalking, just... watching someone intently without their knowledge._

_He saw the happiness that Jin felt each moment of the day, he watched the demon as he played, looping about through the air, he watched him train to his heart's content. And he watched over the demon as he slept, high above the ground on a sturdy branch of a fine tree. The samurai shifts to his human form and quietly jumps from branch to branch, climbing his way up the tree and stops at the master of wind._

_He was surprised how heavily the demon slept. It seemed to him that even one as moronic as Jin would sleep with his guard up slightly. Jin was too trusting of the ones around him. How easy it would be to kill him now, as he slept... he would expect nothing, feel nothing... of course, Shishiwakamaru wouldn't think of it any further. It took one with no honor or pride to kill someone as they sleep, unaware of death as it lurks up behind them._

_He wouldn't have it. Perching himself on the closest branch to Jin, he leaned back against the strong bark behind him and crossed his arms. If Jin was going to be foolish enough to sleep with his guard down entirely, the samurai would have to make up for the wind master's lack of guard with double his own._

_He stayed awake the entire night through, jumping at even the slightest movement. Nothing would dare come near Jin as he slumbered, Shishi made sure of that. The sun rose finally, but the demon was no less alert of his surroundings. He looked over to his side as Jin groaned and rubbed his eyes. He stretched, unaware of the samurai sitting next to him until he caught a glance of blue from the corner of his eye._

_"G'mornin' Shishi!" He said, crossing his legs._

_The samurai simply looked at him._

_"Wow, Shishi, you look like you got no sleep."_

_You're a brilliant one, Jin, Shishiwakamaru thought to himself._

_"You look like crap."_

_The demon's eyes widened and he quickly pulled out his mirror._

_A shriek erupted throughout the forest, causing birds to fly away in fright and anger at the disturbance. Suzuki came running immediately to the two. He saw Jin floating down with an unconscious Shishiwakamaru in his strong arms. Suzuki's eyes widened at the state Shishiwakamaru was in. What sort of monster would attack him and make him look that tired?_

_"What happened?" He asked Jin._

_Much to his surprise, the Wind Master grinned. Suzuki was about to rip out his throat for smiling at the state the samurai was in before Jin began to explain._

_"Well, it seems tha' Shishi was watchin' over me as I was sleepin', and forgo' to sleep 'imself," Jin said, setting the demon down against the trunk of the tree._

_Suzuki arched his brow. How unlike Shishiwakamaru to be so selfless. But that still didn't explain... "Why did he scream?"_

_Jin laughed. "He saw 'is reflection!"_

_"So, why is he out?" He asked, pointing to the sleeping samurai._

_Jin rubbed the back of his head. "Well, 'e needed sleep, ne?"_

_Suzuki slapped himself on the forehead. "You knocked him out, didn't you, Jin?"_

_The wind master stuck out his tongue. He took a seat next to the sleeping samurai. Suzuki sighed. "NOW what are you doing, Jin?"_

_Jin held a finger to his mouth in a shush motion. Suzuki couldn't believe this either. The loudest demon he had ever known, telling him to be quiet. Were the pits of Meikai freezing over? First, Shishi, being selfless, and Jin, being quiet. What's next, Reisho being nice? Suzuki didn't know what to expect anymore._

_"NOW," Jin said, mocking Suzuki, "I'm returnin' the favor!"_

_Suzuki rolled his eyes and walked away._

_----------_

_Shishiwakamaru's eyes fluttered open, taking in his surroundings. It was around noon, the sun at it's highest in the sky. His eyes widened, remembering the events of earlier this morning. He immediately grabbed his mirror, looking at himself. He sighed. The crappy sleepless look was gone, replaced by his beautiful, ridiculously sexy face. Shishiwakamaru couldn't remember ever facing something that terrifying before, and would be sure to never experience it again._

_"Well, Shishi, it seems we kno' where yer' prior'ties lie, ne?" Jin asked, appearing in front of him, floating overhead._

_Getting over the initial shock, he hissed back in annoyance. "Well, of course! How could one not have their beauty as a first priority?"_

_Jin rubbed his chin in mock thought. "If they weren' shallow!"_

_"WHAT!? Are you calling me SHALLOW!?" Shishiwakamaru shouted, jumping to his feet._

_Jin waved his hands around. "I didn' say it, you did!"_

_"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?"_

_Jin, relatively calm, answered back. "I dunno..."_

_Shishiwakamaru exploded. Unsheathing his sword, he took a swipe at Jin, who merely dodged out of the way, the air on his side._

_"SHISHI!!" Suzuki exclaimed, running from nowhere and grabbing the samurai's arms as he attempted to chase after the wind master, who had begun zooming off in the opposite direction._

_The samurai easily wrenched himself from Suzuki's grip and took off after Jin, chasing down the taunting wind demon. When he got close enough, he jumped, grabbing Jin by the midsection._

_Causing both of them to fly dead-on into a tree._

_Said tree collapsed from the effort, and when the dust cleared, Shishiwakamaru was lying on his side on top of Jin, his head on the wind demon's chest. Jin was lying on his back against the demolished trunk of the tree, both hands placed on Shishiwakamaru's back, holding him against him. Suzuki ran in at that point._

_Shishiwakamaru groaned, placing on hand against Jin's chest to prop himself up somewhat. He looked down at the grinning demon below him, his own shadow cast over Jin's smiling face. His face was dangerously close to Jin's. "You're **evil**," he hissed, glare set in his features, his hair falling, framing his face. "Pure evil."_

_Jin's grin grew wider, if possible. "I know."_

_A hand then found it's way to the back of Shishiwakamaru's head and forced his face lower. With that, their lips connected. Shishiwakamaru's eyes widened in shock. He was so shocked, he didn't know what to do, so he waited until Jin was done before he realized. He pulled away, getting to his feet. "You fool!" He said through gritted teeth. "You disgusting, evil fool!"_

_Jin laughed, hovering in front of him once again. "You know it!"_

_"You-you!! You THIEF!!" Shishiwakamaru growled._

_"Aww, come on, dun' tell me that was yer first kiss?" Jin said tauntingly. "That's wha' you got all them fangirls for!"_

_The samurai looked down, boiling in his anger. He tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword, glaring down at the ground. It was a moment of calm before the storm began to rage._

_"JIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!" He roared before setting off after the already fleeing wind demon._

_Suzuki had long since decided to sit down and watch this from a safe, comfortable distance. He pulled out a book and began to calmly read._

"Lovely story, ne Toy?" Jin asked, laughing and remembering that day as they walked through the forest in the Makai.

Touya sweatdropped. "Yes, Jin, exactly the story I wanted to hear while searching for the fountain of youth," he said sarcastically, looking to the side at Sniper who was walking by his side, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"Just a little story to pass time," Shishiwakamaru said, shrugging. "Although, in telling it, Suzuki, you made me look like a fool."

The demon in question shrugged. "What are you talking about? I told it exactly the way it was."

The samurai glared in his direction, greatly wishing to be burning a gigantic, painful hole with it in Suzuki's back.

Touya sighed. "Can you possibly survive with this group as long as necessary, Hagiri?"

The sniper in question shrugged. "I'll learn to ignore it."

Jin hovered over him and poked him. "Good luck!"

-the REAL owari-

* * *

Hieica: Whoo, it's over and done. -wipes sweat form brow- Oh, just so you know, Touya and Sniper are off searching for something to keep Hagiri alive for a long, long time, as discussed in chapter twenty-four. Jin, Shishi, and Suzuki are tagging along for the fun of it. -wink-

Thank you, all of my faithful reviewers!! I hope you enjoyed the final installment of A Red Rose in the Darkness!!

Swissy: Review. Now. STOP YOUR BLUBBERING AND REVIEW!!!


End file.
